Rape of 83-year-old woman sparks protests in Tel Aviv

The brutal rape of an 83-year-old woman near the old central bus station in southern Tel Aviv has sparked protests.

Police have arrested an Eritrean national on suspicion of raping the elderly woman for hours in the backyard of her building, reported YNet News. The attack stopped when the suspect spotted the woman's relatives arriving to visit her and fled.

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A gag order was placed on the investigation for 10 days and was lifted on Monday. The suspect is expected to be indicted later this week.

According to Al Jazeera, police said the man was identified by DNA at the scene that matched DNA from a prior arrest. More than 100 Israelis in Tel Aviv protested African migrants on Monday after hearing of the attack. They were led by Michael Ben Ari, a leader of the ultra-nationalist Strength for Israel party.

A gag order is unusual in such incidents, but police feared anti-African violence would ignite if they released information about the attack on the elderly woman, noted YNet News.

"They didn't want the story to ignite riots and decided to investigate the incident quietly," a Tel Aviv District police officer said.