A new complaint was filed on Monday against Moshe Drai, a 66-year-old mohel from Bnei Brak, who is currently suspected of causing the death of a one-month-old baby following a circumcision he performed. The new complaint refers to a 2023 case in which, according to suspicions, a baby was hospitalized after the procedure in a life-threatening condition but survived.
This complaint joins three other cases currently under investigation, including the case in which the baby died following the circumcision. Police are continuing to map out additional cases and examine the pattern of actions attributed to the suspect.
The investigation into the case has been ongoing for several weeks, during which Darai was arrested and interrogated on suspicion of negligent manslaughter. The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court extended his house arrest until April 23, after police presented a series of findings and testimonies, including suspicions of two other cases of causing significant harm to minors during circumcisions.
As part of the investigation, testimonies were collected from senior figures in the rabbinical world. Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Safed and a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council, testified that he is aware of about 10 other cases where parents claimed their children were harmed by the suspect. Rabbi Moshe Morsiano, Chairman of the Mohel Association, also testified and noted that each year about 70 complaints are received regarding problems during circumcisions, and that the suspect is linked to some of those cases.
Along with the testimonies, police also uncovered correspondence between the suspect and figures in the Mohel Association, in which the suspect allegedly requested to silence a previous injury to a minor from 2022.
Additionally, the investigators have a medical opinion concluding that, in that case, the damage to the minor was a direct result of negligence.
Investigative activities are ongoing: Police intend to collect further testimonies, including from MDA personnel who treated the baby, as well as others who conduct circumcisions to whom families were referred after the procedures. Darai is expected to be questioned again later.
The affair took another turn with the arrest of a rabbi from Bnei Brak, who was arrested on suspicion of obstruction of justice after refusing to open his door to the police. This followed the release of a recording in which he was heard advising the baby’s family “not to say anything bad about the mohel,” a statement suspected to be aimed at covering up the incident and preventing the filing of a complaint.
The father of the infant who died after the circumcision said in a first interview to Walla that he turned to the police “to stop him from harming other children.”
“We tried to reach him again and again – and he didn’t answer,” he said of the days following the circumcision. He only understood the severity of the situation in hindsight.
“When we spoke with another mohel, he was shocked and said we had made a huge mistake.”
The police emphasized that this is a complex and developing investigation and that all testimonies and evidence are being examined in order to reach the truth and ensure justice.
Source:
www.jpost.com
