Israeli police arrest 'polygamist cult leader' Ratzon

Israeli police say they have arrested the leader of an alleged polygamist cult and accused him of enslavement, rape and incest.

Goel Ratzon is believed to have been living in Tel Aviv with 17 women with whom he had up to 40 children.

Police launched an undercover investigation in June 2009 after complaints from some of the women.

Mr Ratzon, aged 60, denies the allegations, saying the women were with him voluntarily.

He was detained on Tuesday, but a gagging order on reporting the case was only lifted two days later.

On Friday, Tel Aviv's court rejected Mr Ratzon's appeal over the 12-day extension to being remanded in custody.

He has not yet been charged.

Mr Ratzon's lawyer, Shlomzion Gabai, told the Associated Press that "he may be different, but he's not a criminal".

'Messiah'

Police said in a statement: "The evidence shows the suspect controlled his women with a firm hand, including their possessions and their money."

It said Mr Ratzon had written a "rule book" for women who he had kept in "conditions of slavery".

"He would dictate what they could and could not do, limit their movements and impose sanctions and various punishments, including the use of violence if they refused to obey," the statement added.

The grey-bearded self-proclaimed healer is said to have asked them to live by the rules, which also included fines.

The women and children were kept in cramped apartments in several locations in the south of Tel Aviv, police say.

They say that in one case, police raided a three-bedroom apartment where 10 women and 17 children were found in a "terrible state" living in "horrible conditions".

The women are now being questioned by police, and the children have been placed in temporary care.

One of the women was quoted by Israel's Haaretz newspaper as saying that the arrest had been motivated by revenge and hostility toward the sect's way of life.

Several of the women also featured in a documentary on Israeli television last year.

"He is the messiah everyone is talking about," one of them said.

"He is already here and hasn't been revealed yet. The day he decides to reveal himself, the land will shake."

Mr Ratzon, whose first name means "savior" in Hebrew, said in the documentary: "I'm perfect. I have all the qualities a woman wants."

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8459854.stm.