Mia Schem, the 22-year-old Israeli woman who was freed from Hamas captivity last year, has accused a well-known fitness trainer in Tel Aviv of raping and drugging her. Speaking to Israel's Channel 12, Ms Schem alleged that the assault took place inside her own home, shortly after her release.
"This was my biggest fear my whole life, before captivity, during captivity. And it happened to me after captivity, in my safest place," she said, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Ms Schem said she met the personal trainer, known for his celebrity clientele, at a Purim party. After attending three training sessions with him, she claimed he offered to connect her with a Hollywood producer interested in making a film about her ordeal in Gaza. When the first meeting fell through, she agreed to host a second meeting at her home.
However, Ms Schem alleged that the trainer arrived late and persuaded her friend to leave, saying the meeting was sensitive. She said she remembers little of what happened afterwards, but believes she was drugged. "My body remembers; it feels everything... but I don't know what happened," she said, adding that it took her days to process the physical and emotional trauma.
Her mother, Keren, described her daughter's condition in the days after the alleged assault as worse than when she returned from captivity. "Now I was seeing a kind of distress that really scared me," she said.
Following the interview, Ms Schem shared a message on social media: "It's not easy to stand in front of a camera and reveal the truth. But there comes a time when you realise your silence doesn't protect you, it protects others."
