Brazilian police arrest fugitive rabbi
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Brazilian police and Interpol say they have arrested a fugitive rabbi wanted in his native Israel on charges of torturing children in exorcism rites.
Officials told media that Elior Noam Hen, 26, was apprehended by Brazilian and Interpol officers, ending a 45-day man-hunt focused on the Jewish neighbourhood of Bom Retiro in Sao Paulo where the rabbi had been spotted going to a synagogue.
Rabbi Hen, also known as Eliyahu Abuhazira, was one of Israel's most-wanted suspects.
He is accused of torturing children and inciting violence against them in an effort to "expel the demon" from their bodies, in line with the beliefs of a radical religious sect to which he belonged, police said.
"All the crimes were committed in Israel against children with the use of violence," Interpol police official Jorge Barbosa Pontes said.
He added that the extradition request against Rabbi Hen would soon be heard by Brazil's supreme court and that in the meantime the rabbi would be held in preventive detention.
Police located his wife and children last week.
The children were taken into state care out of fear they were at risk from Rabbi Hen's alleged behaviour.
- AFP
