ISRAEL
Israel Hayom
Munib Farhat, 56, suspected of imposing strict disciplinary code on 11 adults, 25 children • Cult leader allegedly forced parents to beat their children, withhold food and smear them with fecal matter • Affair exposed after woman files police complaint.
Daniel Siryoti
The details of a shocking child abuse scandal began to emerge on Tuesday in the Galilee town of Majd al-Krum when a Nazareth court lifted the gag order on the affair, which apparently has been going on for ten years.
Munib Farhat, a 56-year-old resident of Majd al-Krum, is suspected of heading a cult and enforcing his will on six families in his community, including dozens of children. The police suspect Farhat of forcing the members of his cult to beat their children, humiliate them, withhold food, lock them in bathrooms and smear them with fecal matter. The cult leader is also suspected of abusing the women in the cult, committing sexual assault and sodomizing them.
The affair was exposed when a woman who belonged to the cult filed a police complaint several weeks ago. A team of investigators consequently launched an undercover probe into the woman’s allegations, in cooperation with Welfare Ministry social workers and Interior Ministry officials. The investigation, which was accompanied by the Haifa District Prosecutor’s Office, revealed that Farhat, who refers to himself as a caliph, allegedly imposed a very strict disciplinary code on 11 adults and 25 children.
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