A 21-year-old Bedouin soldier, absent-without-leave from his army unit since November, has been taken into custody as a suspect in the rape-murder of Hadass kedmi, a 20-year-old woman soldier who disappeared while hitch-hiking in the Haifa area more than a month ago.
Police said they are holding Radwan Sweitat, who lives in a Bedouin encampment near Usafiya village on Mt. Carmel, on the basis of evidence that he was involved in the murder or at least had knowledge of it. Sweitat has been AWOL since November 29, the day Kedmi was last seen on a highway trying to get a ride toward her home in Kibbutz Masaryk on Haifa Bay.
Her remains were discovered 12 days later in a wooded area on Mt. Carmel. The pathologist’s report indicated she was repeatedly raped by more than one man before she was murdered.
Sweitat has been remanded in custody for 10 days. Four other Bedouins from the Mt. Carmel area, arrested earlier in connection with the case, were released today. Police said they had been detained while their car was inspected to determine whether it was used to kidnap Kedmi. A Haifa magistrate ordered them freed for lack of evidence.
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