The Jerusalem District Court on Sunday sentenced an East Jerusalem man to three years in prison for raping and sexually assaulting women in the maternity ward at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, hours after they had given birth.
The defendant, Rashak Hazam, was sentenced to an additional five months behind bars for attempted robbery that same day in 2016.
In Israel, rape can carry up to a 20-year prison sentence. The state prosecution had sought an 11-year sentence for Hazam.
According to the court, in October 2016, Hazam entered the room of a new mother at Shaare Tzedek’s maternity ward dressed as a medical professional. He told the woman that she needed a post-birth examination, and then proceeded to rape her.
Hazam then entered the rooms of two other women and sexually assaulted them.
As Hazam fled the scene, he attempted to rob the gift shop, the court said.
In her ruling, Judge Anat Singer said that despite the severity of the crime, she took Hazam’s defense into consideration, namely that his assault of the new mothers “only lasted a few minutes.”
State prosecutor Anat Greenbaum said in response that Hazam deserves a “more severe punishment for the crimes he committed,” indicating the state would examine the possibility of appealing the sentence.
Greenbaum said Hazam exploited the mental and physical state of the hospitalized women, and he committed his crime while posing as a member of the medical team, which she said was likely to “damage patients’ sense of trust in a hospital and its staff.”
