Jerusalem – An Israeli woman accused of molesting several girls while the principal of the fervently Orthodox Adass Yisroel girls’ school in Melbourne has been found mentally competent and fit to undergo an extradition hearing.
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Jerusalem’s District Psychiatrist submitted two reports on Monday asserting that Malka Leifer, 54, is fit to face a hearing despite her longstanding claim that she suffers from crippling anxiety issues that would prevent her from being tried.
Leifer fled to Israel in 2008 amid allegations that she had sexually abused students. She is wanted on 74 charges of child sexual abuse in Melbourne.
In the beginning of July she lost an appeal for release to house arrest during extradition proceedings, the same day that an Australian newspaper quoted an Israeli man as saying she molested his daughter. She had previously missed several court appearances by saying she was feeling unwell. She was arrested in February after an undercover investigation found that she lived a normal life and was mentally fit to face extradition proceedings.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported last month that a resident of Emmanuel, the haredi Orthodox West Bank town where Leifer lives with her husband and 10 children, has alleged that she sexually molested his daughter while tutoring her in religious studies.
The man, identified as Daniel, told the newspaper he saw her touching another girl as well and alleged that she lures children into her apartment by offering them food, or to tutor them for free.
Posting on Facebook on Monday, Dassi Erlich, one of the students allegedly molested, wrote that her “abuser Malka Leifer has played the court system for 10 years,” adding the hashtag #nomoredelays.
good. now justice can be done. no more hiding
those guards look very bored
It doesn’t seem that any punishment will be enough for what his woman did.
For 10 years Israel was protecting her> Terrible!!!!!
Don’t think for a second this is a done deal. She has the slickest, sleaziest lawyer (with a fat black yarmulke & a fat bank account to match) and he will do everything in his slimy way to stop extradition. Pressure must be maintained & the Minister of Justice needs to stop this farce NOW.
Funny how we have entered Elul, and all that is of concern is the justice issue in a human/secular court. For those who either forgot or are otherwise distracted, there is an approaching Yom Hadin. The infractions that occurred were major violations, including both בין אדם למקום and בין אדם לחבירו. Let’s add to the mix the depravity of the offenses, and top all of this with the glaring contrast between the behavior and the assumed moral status of the perpetrator. Can there be מחילה for these violations of Torah law and values?
Yes, extradite her, imprison her, and treat her with inhumanity like she did to others. But what really matters is the mishpat of Rosh Hashanah. That would concern me a lot more than this extradition stuff.