A man and woman were jailed for 10 and nine years respectively on Monday for prolonged abuse of their daughter, at the time the crimes were revealed, which included burning her with hot water and tying her in a bathtub.
The parents were given prison sentences two years after the police first discovered their crimes.
The Central District Court sentenced the girl’s Israeli stepfather to 10 years in prison. The mother of a West Bank Palestinian girl living in Israel was sentenced to nine years in prison.
The couple was also ordered to pay NIS 100,000 in compensation.
Court papers show that the child suffered prolonged injuries and was bruised on several occasions, with wounds on all parts of his body at Lod’s family home.
State prosecutor’s office attorney Hind Nabelsi said in a statement that the pair “brutally and systematically harmed their daughter, in a place where she was supposed to feel safe.”
She said the sentences were “one more step to end violence against children”.
Nabelsi praised the actions of a neighbor who was the first to inform the police of the abuse.
“The vigilance of the neighbor saved the girl and did not continue the abuse against her,” Nabelsi said.
The girl was apparently born in the West Bank and brought up in Israel without being registered with the authorities.
According to prosecutors, she was bathed in boiling water, imprisoned in her room or a small bathroom and tied with a rope that caused her injuries.
In addition, the parents prevented their daughter from eating, did not provide her with proper medical care, and left her alone at home without responsible supervision.
According to Hebrew media reports at the time, police reached the girl’s home on August 12, 2019, after receiving complaints of incessant crying.
As they were preparing to break down the door, the suspects came out on the beach.
Before the officers could see, the father ran to the bathroom in an attempt to open his daughter. However, the police chased her and found the girl in poor physical condition.
She was tied to a thick rope in the bathtub with her arms, legs and neck, which the officers had to use a knife to cut.
The girl was taken to a nearby hospital for a medical examination and doctors found signs of severe, long-term neglect and abuse. According to Hebrew media reports, they included missing toenails and burn marks.
Police said a search of the house found evidence of the parents misbehaving with their daughter. The father and mother were arrested on the spot and are behind bars since then.
Both parents are on their second marriage, family members told Hebrew-language media at the time of the arrest. The father has 15 children – 12 from his first wife and three from his current wife.
Family members speculated that the girl, who they did not know, may have been the eldest of a mother born during her first marriage.