An East Jerusalem man was indicted on Tuesday for raping a maternity patient and sexually assaulting two others at a Jerusalem hospital last month, while impersonating a doctor.
Hazim Rishq, 30, from Anata was also accused of stealing items valued at NIS 1,800 ($470) from a Jerusalem supermarket, as well as attempted theft from the hospital patients.
According to the indictment, Rishq entered three maternity patients’ rooms at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in late October, presenting himself as a member of the hospital staff.
He told one of the new mothers he needed to perform an “internal examination,” before proceeding to assault her, the indictment charged. Overall, Rishq was accused of raping one patient and sexually assaulting two others in the Jerusalem hospital maternity ward on October 22.
The Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem (Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)
Earlier in the day, Rishq robbed a Jerusalem grocery store, the legal documents said.
Jerusalem prosecutors were seeking to keep Rishq in custody until the end of the proceedings.
The hospital’s security officer reported the incident on October 22 to police who launched an investigation, ultimately leading to the man’s arrest.
Contradicting the police, the hospital said at the time that the incident involved “an indecent act” and not rape. It said it was examining its security procedures to find out how the impostor managed to evade security and carry out the alleged attack.
Stuart Winer contributed to this report.
