Four times the police brought M. from Be'er Sheva to court to extend his remand. The suspicion was grave: rape of a 7-year-old girl in the toilets at her school. Each time the court ordered a remand extension, M. loudly protested his innocence and demanded a polygraph test. He says that in response to his denials, the police would whisper in his ear "You raped her."
It was only in recent days, after 10 days under arrest and a moment before an indictment was filed, that the police and prosecution acceded to his lawyers' pleas and sent M. for a polygraph test. He was found to be telling the truth and was released. The case was then closed for a lack of evidence of sexual assault, save for what the girl had said.
Three days after he was released, M. still finds it hard to calm down. He chain-smokes; one moment he is sunk in thought, the next he gets up and paces around the room hundreds of times, his eyes fixed on the floor. From time to time he spreads his arms out to his sides. Then he leans on the wall, his face in his hands. "I know that I have to be strong and get through this," he says. "I am praying to God to give me strength to raise my children."
He is 38 years old, married and the father of three. He works in the maintenance department of the Be'er Sheva municipality, taking home NIS 4,000 per month. Only two months ago he moved with his family to a private house in Be'er Sheva.
One morning about a month ago a first-grader at the state religious school, a girl, went into the school's only bathroom, for both boys and girls. Three municipal maintenance workers, among them M., were working nearby, installing tables in the new computer room.
According to the girl, as her mother told Haaretz, "She went into the bathroom and she saw this man. He closed the bathroom's main door behind him and she was paralyzed with fear. He pushed her into one of the stalls and sexually assaulted her. Immediately after he satisfied himself, she escaped. She put her clothes on in the corridor. She was running so fast she bumped into the railing and was hit hard in the chest." [...]