The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court today (Thursday) extended for five days the detention of Yarin Sharaf, who is suspected of raping a 13-year-old girl in the Korona Hotel in Jaffa last week. According to the suspicion, Sharaf twice raped the minor, beat and strangled the girl in her room.
Police initially asked for the suspect’s detention to be extended by eight days, claiming that they have new evidence in their possession, which strengthens the suspicions against Sharaf. Judge Or Mammon approved the request, but believed that at this time the investigation should be supervised and the detention extended by five days. During the hearing, the judge said that “since the previous detention extension quite a few significant investigative actions have been taken. At the next hearing, unless there are further developments, the court expects the final stages of the investigation.”
In addition, during the hearing, a police representative claimed that the suspect was hiding in the bathroom in the minor’s room, and one of the instructors at the scene caught him during the act and warned him. “This is a minor girl not your age nor in your mind. Do not approach her,” the representative explained. After the hearing, the minor’s mother encountered the suspect’s defense attorney, and angrily slapped him: “Do you have daughters, do you sleep at night?”.
The police representative also claimed that Sharaf told the victim “Eilat 2 will be here.” He noted that everyone understood what the suspect meant when he said Eilat, adding: “We want to extend his detention to conduct the investigation while he is behind bars.”
Protest sign against Yarin Sharaf suspected of rape (Photo: Avshalom Shashoni)As you may recall, Sharaf is suspected of raping the 13-year-old minor twice during his short stay in a motel, after only two conversations were established between the two. Police say he beat, strangled and then raped her. He also tried to coax her into consuming drugs and alcohol with him.
Police noted that the first rape incident occurred as early as the day the suspect arrived at the motel, and the second the next day. Prior to the hearing, as soon as the suspect’s name was released last Friday, the network was flooded with critical comments against Sharaf, who is known to be very active on the Tiktok network, and whose account has thousands of followers. Sharaf, a resident of Beit Aryeh, has moved to Sderot in the past two months.
Outside the walls of the court were hung various signs by feminist activists, expressing support for the girl (“I believe you”), as well as signs condemning Sharaf.