Special Needs Jewish Woman Struggles To Survive in Prison

Shock waves were sent through the community of Neve Dekalim this month after the arrest & imprisonment of special needs 24-year-old Hodaya Monsango. Hodaya is a kind and gentle young woman whose mental capacity remains at that of a child. She became involved in an elaborate hoax recently when she was hired to babysit for a woman’s two children during a vacation to Peru.

On their way back to Israel, security stopped Hodaya to search her luggage and reportedly found illegal substances. Family members claim she had no capacity to procure, or smuggle, such substances, and that, being an easy target due to her disability, she was unjustly framed. Police arrested Hodaya and she is currently being held in a Peruvian prison. Those close to the terrified woman say she has no understanding of where she is, or why. Chabad of Lima has been making regular deliveries of kosher food to her cell.

Money is now being raised in an urgent effort to afford all the legal fees, expert opinions, medical and other expenses. It has been estimated that the cost will amount to $225,000, a sum far beyond the budget of the family. On December 15, the prosecutor will ask the court to sentence Hodaya (along with the woman who set her up) to at least 25 years in prison, after which Hodaya’s situation will become even more complicated, and it will become far more difficult to ever secure her release.

Money is being crowdfunded for this urgent case of pidyon shvuyim here for a limited time.