00:00:09
[Music] Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at
00:00:18
any time you need support, please contact your local crisis center. For suggested phone numbers, for
00:00:25
confidential support, and for a more detailed list of content warnings, please see the show notes for this
00:00:31
episode on your app or on our website. [Music] In the spring of 2000, the Adas Israel
00:00:43
school in the Melbourne suburb of Stanwick needed to hire a new senior school teacher. Finding the right person
00:00:51
wouldn't be an easy task. The all girls school catered to a small ultraorththodox Jewish community known
00:00:59
as the Adas Israel congregation that was based in a small pocket of Melbourne's inner southeast. Students who attended
00:01:07
the school adhered to a strict religious upbringing and were sheltered from broader society.
00:01:14
The community was so insular that they had their own shops, their own medical service, and their own rules for raising
00:01:21
children. Children were not allowed to watch television, listen to the radio, or
00:01:26
access the internet. Only certain reading materials were permitted. Outside of a family setting, girls were
00:01:35
not permitted to mix with boys and stories that featured girls and boys being friends were forbidden.
00:01:43
Girls were primarily expected to become wives and mothers and much of their education centered around this.
00:01:52
Unlike most other schools in the state, Adas Israel did not adhere to a Victorian certificate of education
00:01:59
curriculum. Its final two years primarily consisted of a program that saw students trained
00:02:06
to become teachers within the community. For many years, an elderly, highly respected female teacher had been
00:02:15
responsible for the program. When she passed away, her position had to be filled.
00:02:22
The school board began looking for suitable recruits overseas in Israel, considering teachers from
00:02:28
ultraorththodox communities over there. One school board member had heard about a particular teacher who sounded
00:02:35
promising, a charismatic 33-year-old with glowing references. Her name was Mala Lifer.
00:02:44
Within a matter of months, Mala Life relocated to Australia to be head of Jewish studies at Adas Israel and to
00:02:52
teach the senior school program. For the students, seeing a new face in their small, tight-knit community was a
00:03:00
big deal, and Mrs. Lifer was nothing like the teachers they were used to. Most other teachers at the school were
00:03:09
aloof and reserved. But Mrs. Lifer was warm, vivaceious, and charming with a good sense of humor.
00:03:18
From the moment she arrived, she engaged with students and took the time to chat
00:03:23
with them one on-one. The overall consensus amongst the girls at Adas Israel school was that Mala was
00:03:33
a breath of fresh air. [Music] born in 1985, Nicole Sappa had attended Adas Israel school since her very first
00:04:05
year of primary school. The third of seven siblings, Nicole's home was devoid of parental love.
00:04:14
While her father was mostly absent when it came to parenting, Nicole's mother was emotionally and physically abusive.
00:04:22
She played her children off against one another by favoring some and excluding others.
00:04:28
These dynamics shifted from week to week so that Nicole and her siblings never knew when they would be cast in the role
00:04:35
of the bad child. When their mother was angry, she would hit, kick, and beat them. Punishments
00:04:43
for perceived wrongdoings included missing out on meals, being shut out of the house, or locked in a small, dark
00:04:50
cupboard under the stairs. Nicole's mother was also incredibly controlling. If the children were even 10 minutes
00:04:59
late home from school, she would fly into a rage. Sometimes she would pull Nicole out of
00:05:06
school for a day and demand she complete domestic chores around the house instead.
00:05:13
Nicole and her siblings kept this abuse a secret. They already felt like outsiders within their community.
00:05:21
Unlike most other members of the Adas congregation, the Sappa family did not have relatives who had been murdered in
00:05:28
or survived the Holocaust, nor were they from an Eastern European background. Instead, Nicole's parents had immigrated
00:05:37
to Australia from the Middle East. This different background led to Nicole's mother constantly telling her
00:05:45
children that all they had was their good name. If they wanted decent marriage prospects
00:05:51
and bright futures, then they had to behave impeccably. And if anyone in the community
00:05:57
discovered the truth about their home life, it would lower their standing even further.
00:06:05
School was Nicole's one escape. She was an intelligent child who loved studying so much that she would complete her
00:06:12
homework quickly then ask for more. When Mala Lifer arrived to teach at the school in 2001, she began working
00:06:22
closely with the students who were in their final years. This meant Nicole, who was 16 years old and in year 10,
00:06:30
became acquainted with her quickly. Like other students, Nicole was struck by Mrs. life's warmth and outgoing
00:06:38
personality. The young teacher took a real interest in her students. It wasn't unusual for
00:06:45
her to call individual girls out of class and into her office for a chat so she could get to know them better.
00:06:53
Mrs. Lifer's kind and friendly demeanor was unlike anything Nicole had experienced before.
00:07:00
She felt safe talking to her. Over time, Nicole began to open up to Mrs. Lifer more and more. Eventually,
00:07:09
she told her about her struggles at home. It was the first time she had confided
00:07:15
in anyone about the abuse. To Nicole's relief, Mrs. Lifer provided a supportive and sympathetic ear.
00:07:28
During her first year at Adas Israel School, Mrs. Life's standing in the community grew.
00:07:35
As well as holding her own prestigious position at the congregation's all girls school, Mrs. Lifer's husband was a
00:07:41
rabbi. Wives of rabbis were given the title of rabbitson, which was an esteemed role to
00:07:48
hold within Orthodox Judaism. Other members of the congregation looked up to Mrs. Lifer and considered it an
00:07:56
honor to be close with her. If she needed assistance, they were eager to offer it. She couldn't drive, so people
00:08:05
went out of their way to give her lifts. At the end of 2002, there was a restructure at Adas Israel school, and
00:08:14
Mrs. Lifer received a promotion. She was made principal, putting her in charge of both the primary and secondary
00:08:22
schools. By the beginning of 2003, Nicole Sappa was in year 12. Her sister Dussy was 2
00:08:33
years her junior and starting year 10. Just like Nicole, Dussy was very unhappy at home. Her mother's abuse and
00:08:44
controlling behavior was an awful secret that weighed heavily on her. One day, Dussy was approached by Mrs.
00:08:52
Lifer, who asked to speak with her. To Dusty's surprise, Mrs. Lifer explained that she knew all about what Dussy was
00:09:01
going through. She also offered to help her. Dussy knew that her elder sister Nicole
00:09:09
was close with Mrs. Lifer. The relationship appeared to be a positive one. Mrs. Lifer was supportive of Nicole and
00:09:17
would often favor her by taking her out of class for special projects or activities.
00:09:23
Now, Mrs. Lifer began showing the same care for Darcy. The two would meet one- on-one in Mrs.
00:09:30
Lifer's office where the teacher would express concern for Dary's home life. Mrs. Lifer also arranged for Dussy to
00:09:38
attend extra classes on Sundays. These lessons would focus on Jewish morals and values and take place both at
00:09:47
school and at Mrs. Lifeer's home. This special treatment from such a well- reggarded community leader was seen as
00:09:56
an enormous privilege. There was real status in being one of Mrs. Lifer's favorites. Even Dar's
00:10:04
mother was flattered that Mrs. Lifer would take such an interest in her daughter's education.
00:10:11
At home, Dussy felt unworthy. But when Mrs. Lifer showered her with attention. She felt cared for and special. It was
00:10:20
the first time she'd ever felt loved. Dussy began confiding in Mrs. Lifer just as Nicole had done and trusted her
00:10:30
completely. One day, she wrote in her diary, quote, "I love Mrs. Lifer. She is the only
00:10:39
person I feel has ever loved me. Mrs. Lifer had always been a touchy, feelly person. She would touch students
00:10:52
shoulders often as she guided them down corridors or sometimes give them a quick
00:10:57
pad on the back or leg. Although this behavior was highly unusual in the Adash community, and none
00:11:04
of the other teachers ever touched their students, nobody ever questioned Mrs. Lifeer's actions.
00:11:11
They were seen as further evidence of her warm nature. But when Dussy was 15 years old, the
00:11:19
attention from Mrs. Lifer took a turn. The teacher's touches began to escalate. During their meetings at school, Mrs.
00:11:30
Lifer would take Dussy into her office, close the door, and shutter the blinds. Then she would rub Dussy's back and
00:11:38
thighs over the top of her school uniform. Mrs. Lifer told Dussy that she loved her
00:11:44
and felt like a mother to her. These touches were her way of showing how close she felt to her.
00:11:53
Then they escalated further. As well as touching Dussy in her office, Mrs. lifer touched her during their
00:12:02
one-on-one classes at her home and during school camps. She began removing Dar's clothes and
00:12:10
focusing on the 15-year-old's stomach and breasts. Eventually, she started to digitally
00:12:16
rape Dussy and would take the teenager's hand and place it on her own body. Throughout this abuse, Mrs. Lifer
00:12:24
repeatedly told Dussy how much she loved her. Dussy felt frozen in place, unable to
00:12:31
move or speak. Dussiey's strict religious upbringing meant that she had no knowledge of sex
00:12:38
or sexual abuse. Children in the Adas community didn't receive sexual education.
00:12:46
Once they were engaged and planning a wedding, they would attend classes to learn about matters relating to
00:12:52
marriage. This focus on modesty extended to Dussy's home life. She would only remove her clothes, which
00:13:00
consisted of long skirts and sleeves, in the privacy of the bathroom. No one ever saw her naked body, and she
00:13:08
never saw anyone else's either until Mrs. Lifer began abusing her. [Music] Darcy didn't have the language to
00:13:20
describe her body parts or an understanding that would allow her to articulate the abuse, but she was
00:13:27
intuitively aware that what Mrs. Lifer was doing was wrong. She was overwhelmed by feelings of
00:13:34
shame, embarrassment, and fear. She knew how powerful Mrs. Lifer was and was aware that Mrs. Lifer knew secrets
00:13:42
about Dussy's home life. If those secrets were exposed, the community's matchmakers who arranged
00:13:49
marriages wouldn't find Dari a husband. Although Mrs. Lifer was charming and charismatic, she also had a nasty
00:13:58
streak. If there was someone in the community who she didn't like, she would turn
00:14:04
against them and had the power to turn others against them, too. She wasn't above doing the same to her
00:14:12
students. Mrs. Lifer would pick on girls whom she didn't like and make rude comments about
00:14:19
them. She was known to be hot and cold by showering particular students with attention for a couple of weeks, then
00:14:26
giving them the cold shoulder. This behavior left the targeted girls distressed and confused.
00:14:35
Everyone wanted to be liked by Mrs. Lifer. If a student suddenly found herself in Mrs. life as bad books. Her
00:14:43
friends would often avoid her, scared the principal would also turn against them by association.
00:14:50
Dussy felt powerless and had no idea how to stop what was happening. The abuse continued over months and then years.
00:15:00
In 2005, when Dussy was in her final year of school, she became engaged to a young man.
00:15:08
Mrs. Bifa began telling her the abuse was beneficial as it would teach her what to do when she was married.
00:15:15
On one occasion, she kissed Dussy on the mouth. Dussy hadn't even been aware that this
00:15:22
was something people did. By the end of the school year, Dussy graduated at the age of 18. But Mrs.
00:15:31
Lifer was so ingrained in her life that the abuse didn't stop there. She continued to abuse Dari over the
00:15:39
summer months. At the start of the next school year, Dussy returned to Adas Israel in a
00:15:46
teaching role. Mrs. Lifer was now Dussy's boss. The abuse increased over the next 8
00:15:55
months until Dussy was married in September 2006 and moved with her new husband to Israel.
00:16:06
now named Dussy Erlick. This was a chance for her to start a new life almost 14,000 km away.
00:16:15
But Dussy continued to struggle. A few months after she arrived in Israel, the nightmares started.
00:16:23
Bad dreams about what she'd endured at the hands of her former school principal invaded her sleep. When Dussy wasn't
00:16:31
having nightmares, she was lying awake at night, plagued by insomnia. Her waking hours were equally fraught
00:16:39
with memories of what happened back in Melbourne abruptly invading Dar's mind. She grappled with anxiety and flashbacks
00:16:48
for months. Finally, Dussy decided to seek professional help. She was aware that a social worker she
00:16:57
knew from Melbourne was now living nearby. Hana Rabinowitz had been employed as a
00:17:03
consultant at a Das Israel school between 2001 and 2006 and had worked with students and families there.
00:17:12
About a year after Darcy arrived in Israel, she began having counseling sessions with Hana Rabinowitz.
00:17:19
Darcy didn't tell Hana the extent of what she had been suffering. Instead, she explained that she was
00:17:26
having difficulty adjusting to marriage and was feeling isolated in a new country so far away from home.
00:17:34
Hana Rabinowitz had the distinct impression that there was more going on than that. She felt as though Darcy
00:17:42
might be repressing something. The two continued their sessions together over the next few months.
00:17:50
During one appointment in February 2008, Hana realized that Darcy had clearly been abused by somebody in the past.
00:17:59
She asked Darcy directly, "Who hurt you?" Hunched over and obviously distraught,
00:18:07
Darcy whispered, "Mrs. Lifer." A few days later, Darcy's sister Nicole received a phone call back in Melbourne.
00:18:20
On the other end was social worker Hana Rabinowitz, who Nicole remembered from Hana's time in Melbourne.
00:18:28
Hana didn't waste any time in explaining the reason for her call, stating, "Dussy
00:18:35
gave me permission to call you. I just wanted to ask if you were abused, too." By this time, Nicole was 22 years old
00:18:46
and working as a teacher at a Das Israel school. She had been teaching there for
00:18:51
several years following her graduation in 2003. Nicole had also married, changed her
00:18:59
name to Nicole Meyer, and given birth to her first child. Through all of these milestones, Mala
00:19:07
Life had been a constant presence in Nicole's life. Mrs. Lifer was still the principal of
00:19:13
the school, and Nicole worked with her everyday. Nicole had struggled to tell anyone
00:19:21
about the impact Mrs. Lifer had held over her for so long. But when she was confronted by Hana's direct question,
00:19:28
she answered automatically, "Yes, I was." The abuse Nicole had suffered at the hands of Mrs. Lifer followed a very
00:19:41
similar pattern to Darcy's. Not long after they met, Mrs. Lifer had started grooming Nicole and gaining her
00:19:49
trust. She singled her out for special treatment and gave her one-on-one Sunday classes.
00:19:57
Mrs. Lifer had gradually pushed boundaries by first touching Nicole over her school uniform, then progressing to
00:20:04
more overt sexual abuse. After a couple of years, when Nicole was participating in the school's teacher
00:20:11
training program, the abuse intensified. This program involved working very closely with Mrs. Lifer in a more
00:20:20
isolated part of the school. It meant that Mrs. Lifer had a greater access to Nicole than she'd ever had
00:20:28
before, and the control she exerted over Nicole became increasingly extreme. She assaulted Nicole at the school and
00:20:37
at her home where she had Nicole over for weekly meals to mark the Jewish Sabbath.
00:20:43
School camps were another opportunity for Mrs. Lifer to commit abuse. Nicole first attended these as a
00:20:51
student, then later as a teacher. On one occasion, Mrs. Lifer insisted on sharing her bed.
00:20:59
Nicole covered herself up entirely, even wearing thick tights to sleep in, hoping
00:21:04
they would deter Mrs. Lifer. But they didn't. During one camp, while Nicole was teaching, but Darcy was still a student,
00:21:15
the two sisters shared a room with twin beds. Late at night, when Mrs. Lifer believed
00:21:22
Darcy was sleeping, she climbed into Nicole's bed and raped her. The next day, Dussy gave Nicole a
00:21:30
knowing look, which Nicole returned. Without exchanging a word, the sisters knew for the first time that they were
00:21:39
both victims of the same woman. Nicole began teaching at Adas Israel in 2004. That same year, she also became engaged
00:21:53
to a young man. He was the son of a woman whom Mrs. Lifer disliked and Mrs. Lifer made it
00:22:00
clear to Nicole how disappointed she was. After Mrs. Lifer continually demanded she break off the engagement, Nicole
00:22:09
finally gave in to the pressure just 5 weeks before the wedding. She called her fianceé and read from a
00:22:16
script Mrs. Lifer had provided, telling him they could not get married. Nicole subsequently became engaged to
00:22:25
another man. In the seven weeks leading up to her wedding, Mrs. Lifer repeatedly raped
00:22:31
her, telling Nicole she was preparing her for marriage. The abuse continued after Nicole was
00:22:38
married. A turning point came when she was 4 months pregnant with her first child.
00:22:46
During one assault, when Mrs. lifer was lying on top of her. Nicole became terrified that her baby might be crushed
00:22:53
by the much larger woman. As much as possible, she began avoiding situations where she was alone with Mrs.
00:23:00
Lifer and the abuse lessened. But it didn't stop. Time went on and Nicole Meer gave birth
00:23:12
to her first child. She also continued to teach at Adas Israel school. She didn't speak of the abuse to anyone
00:23:21
until she received the call from Hana Rabinowitz in late February 2008. A few days after the phone call, Nicole
00:23:30
was at work teaching when Mala Lifer suddenly entered her classroom. She looked scared.
00:23:37
It was the first time Nicole had ever seen Mrs. Lifer appear unsettled. She pulled Nicole out of the classroom
00:23:45
and began to ask her what she knew and what was going on. Nicole said she didn't know anything and
00:23:53
Mrs. Lifer left. Behind the scenes, word had started to spread about Darcy's allegations.
00:24:01
Darcy had told Hana Rabinowitz that one of her classmates was abused by Mrs. Lifer as well. The girl's mother was a
00:24:09
staff member at a Das Israel school. So Darcy told Hana to call her. Hana did so which prompted the staff
00:24:18
member to ask her daughter if she had been abused. The daughter said she was. 5 days later on Wednesday, March 5,
00:24:29
2008, an urgent meeting was convened at the home of prominent Adas Israel figure
00:24:34
and renowned philanthropist Izzy Herzog. Those in attendance included two school
00:24:41
board members, a teacher from the school, a barrista, and Herzog's daughter who was a forensic
00:24:47
psychologist. After some discussion, it was decided that Mala Lifer should be stood down as
00:24:55
principal. The group called Mrs. Lifer at home and put her on loudspeaker. When they brought up the allegations,
00:25:04
Mrs. Lifer angrily refuted them, stating, "You have destroyed my reputation. I'm
00:25:11
not going to stand for this. I'm leaving. I resign." By the following morning, she had
00:25:20
disappeared. Without any explanation, Malca vanished from the school she led and the broader
00:25:33
Adas community. She left Stenwick with four of her eight children. The others and her husband would soon
00:25:42
follow. On Friday, March 7, 2 days after the school board meeting, staff at Adas
00:25:49
Israel were told that Mrs. Lifer had been stood down and decided to return to Israel.
00:25:57
The sudden absence of such a prominent and revered leader sent shock waves through the community.
00:26:03
People were devastated that an integral part of their world was missing and rampant speculation began to spread as
00:26:10
to who was responsible. Who were the girls who had made allegations against Mrs. Lifer?
00:26:19
Nicole Meer found herself feeling totally alone. The abuse had ended with Mrs. life's departure, but she was still
00:26:27
suffering the effects, and now the entire community was speculating about it. Nicole felt she couldn't tell her
00:26:35
husband or anyone else what had happened to her. Her sister Darcy was the one person who might be able to relate, but
00:26:43
she was living on the other side of the world in Israel. Darcy was struggling as well. Her
00:26:51
symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder continued and she began to self harm.
00:26:58
In 2009, she became pregnant with her first child and the following year, she gave birth to a daughter.
00:27:06
But what should have been a happy time was also impacted by Dussy's years of trauma.
00:27:12
Breastfeeding her baby triggered traumatic flashbacks of the abuse. Dussy began to battle suicidal thoughts
00:27:20
and was ultimately admitted to a psychiatric hospital for a time. Another sibling of Darcy and Nicole's
00:27:30
had also started reflecting on her own traumas after Malifa left to Melbourne. Ellie Sappa was one year younger than
00:27:39
Darcy. Like her older sisters, she had attended the Adas Israel school. And like her
00:27:46
sisters, Ellie had yearned for love and attention that she didn't receive at home. She saw the affectionate way that
00:27:54
Mrs. Lifer treated her sisters and how she nurtured and encouraged them. Ellie was in awe of her. Mrs. Lifeer's
00:28:03
caring nature seemed to prove that it was possible to be loved. Nicole and Darcy cautioned Ellie to stay
00:28:12
away from Mrs. Lifer, though they didn't say why. They didn't have the word to explain
00:28:19
what the principal did to them. By the end of 2005, Nicole was in her second year of teaching and Dari was
00:28:28
about to graduate. Ellie was 16 years old and preparing to finish year 11. This was when Mrs. Lifaer started paying
00:28:38
attention to her. She began grooming Ellie as she'd done to Nicole and Darcy years earlier.
00:28:47
She was the first person to ever tell Ellie that she loved her. And then she progressed to sexually abusing her,
00:28:55
explaining that this was how she expressed her love. In total, it continued for 2 years.
00:29:05
After leaving school at the end of 2006, Ellie began slowly distancing herself from the Adash congregation.
00:29:13
She made new friends from Melbourne's wider Jewish community who followed a more contemporary interpretation of the
00:29:20
religion. Ellie became particularly close to a young man named David, a friendship
00:29:27
which would have been forbidden in the ultraorththodox circle Ellie was raised in.
00:29:33
David was struck by how sheltered Ellie was. There were so many things about modern life that she'd never been
00:29:40
exposed to before. A little over a year after Ellie graduated, Darcy's allegations against
00:29:48
Mala Lifer prompted Mrs. Lifer to leave Melbourne. The fallout within the Adas community
00:29:55
led to Ellie questioning what she'd endured. Slowly, she began confiding in David
00:30:02
about the abuse. David was horrified and encouraged Ellie to inform the police. Ellie hadn't been aware that this was
00:30:12
something she could even do. After months of encouragement from David, the two of them finally went to a
00:30:19
police station together one day in 2010. Ellie was nervous, but finally ready to
00:30:26
report the abuse. Ellie didn't tell her sisters what she had done, but Dari had since moved back
00:30:36
to Melbourne, and her own struggles gradually led her to distance herself from the Adash community as well. In mid
00:30:44
2011, she decided to make her own statement to the police. A few months later, in October, Nicole
00:30:52
did the same. Armed with three corroborating reports accusing the same woman of sexual abuse,
00:31:00
the police took the case seriously and began to investigate. There was evidence that the three Sappa
00:31:08
sisters were not Malifer's only victims. In total, she was suspected of abusing between 8 and 14 girls at a Das Israel
00:31:18
school. Victoria police ultimately wrote up an arrest warrant for 74 counts of child
00:31:26
sexual abuse with charges ranging from indecent assault to rape. The police told the three sisters that
00:31:34
because Malifa was now living in Israel, they would have to obtain an extradition
00:31:39
order. As Australia had an extradition agreement with Israel, the sisters were given the impression that having Mrs.
00:31:46
lifeer returned to the country would be a fairly straightforward process. It involved police in Melbourne sending
00:31:55
papers requesting Malifa's extradition to law enforcement in Australia's capital city of Canberra.
00:32:02
After approving the request, CRA officials would then forward it to Israeli authorities.
00:32:09
In all, they could expect the extradition request to be acted on within 12 to 18 months.
00:32:19
But 2 years passed with no news. Then in September 2014, Malaifa was suddenly arrested by law enforcement
00:32:30
officers in Benet Brock, a city just east of Tel Aviv, that is a center of ultraorththodox Judaism.
00:32:38
When Nicole Meer received a call back in Melbourne informing her of the news, she
00:32:43
almost dropped the phone in shock. The day that she and her sisters had long awaited was finally here.
00:32:52
Mala Lifeer spent two months in custody before her lawyers successfully argued that she be kept under house arrest
00:32:59
while the extradition hearings took place. However, once Mrs. Lifer was back living
00:33:05
with her family, she complained that she was suffering panic attacks and extreme
00:33:09
anxiety in the leadup to her extradition hearing. A delay was granted. Then Mrs. Lifer stopped showing up at
00:33:19
court altogether. Her attorneys explained that her mental health had deteriorated so much that she
00:33:26
was incapable of attending or even understanding what was going on in the courtroom.
00:33:32
Israeli law requires a suspect or a defendant to be present for all hearings pertaining to them.
00:33:39
Each time Mrs. Lifer failed to attend a hearing. It was postponed to a later date,
00:33:46
but she never returned. Months passed and then years. In total, Mrs. Lifer was given more than
00:33:57
35 court dates, most of which she failed to attend. Her lawyers explained that her health
00:34:04
had deteriorated so badly that she now needed a carer to look after her. She couldn't communicate and was
00:34:11
described as being like quote a sack of potatoes in terms of her mental capacity.
00:34:19
At the beginning of 2016, the psychiatrist for the court submitted a report that stated, quote, "The patient
00:34:28
is totally non-functional, confined to her bed, and is on the verge of having a power of attorney appointed for her."
00:34:36
By mid 2016, the focus had turned from whether she was well enough to attend the hearings to whether she was even
00:34:44
capable of standing trial at all. A loophole in Israeli law meant that individuals who are mentally unwell
00:34:52
cannot face extradition hearings. In June 2016, a judge ruled that the current situation could not continue.
00:35:03
It was ordered that the extradition hearing be suspended altogether. Instead, Mrs. Lifer would have to appear
00:35:11
before a psychiatric panel once every 6 months. This arrangement would be put in
00:35:17
place for 10 years. Lifer would no longer be kept on house arrest and was now free to go wherever
00:35:25
she wanted. Nicole, Darcy, and Deli were devastated. It had been 5 years since they reported
00:35:37
the crimes to police, and now it felt as though Mrs. Lifer would never be held accountable.
00:35:44
Moreover, they had all suffered immense personal losses due to reporting their allegations.
00:35:50
Although they hadn't gone public or been named in the media, those within the Adash congregation knew who was behind
00:35:58
the accusations. This led to many people shunning and ostracizing the three sisters.
00:36:05
Those who were supportive said nothing, too scared to speak out. Then there were others who actively
00:36:14
tried to stop the sister's pursuit of justice. Nicole, Darcy, and Deli had an older
00:36:20
sister named Dalia who lived in Manchester, England. She was residing in an ultraorththodox community there and
00:36:28
worked as a principal at a religious school. In August 2014, 39-year-old Dalia was
00:36:36
approached by two ultraorththodox men with connections to Mala Life. They had flown to Manchester from Israel
00:36:45
just to speak to her. The men told Dalia that she should tell her younger sisters to drop the charges
00:36:52
against Mala Lifa. They warned Dalia that if Nicole, Darcy, and Ellie, continued with the case
00:36:59
against Mrs. Lifer, then their other family members, including Dalia, would be impacted.
00:37:06
Dalia would have her career destroyed and her children's marriage prospects would be ruined.
00:37:14
Dalia was distressed. She went to a rabbi in her community and asked for advice.
00:37:21
He took the men's side, encouraging Dalia to do as they said and remain silent against Mrs. Lifer.
00:37:30
This advice devastated her even further. Dalia called her sisters back in Melbourne and told them what had
00:37:38
happened. She reassured them that she wouldn't act on the threats, stating, "I would rather die than do anything like
00:37:47
that." Within 2 weeks of being approached by the men, Daria died from heart related
00:37:55
issues. Nicole, Darcy, and Ellie were certain that the threats had taken a fatal toll
00:38:05
on Dalia. They saw their sister as another victim of Malaifa. Her sudden death had devastated them,
00:38:14
but they refused to drop their cases. Instead, they began to fight harder. In 2015, Dussy Erlick filed a civil suit
00:38:25
against Adas Israel school. In March 2017, the year after Malifa was freed from house arrest and appearing in
00:38:35
court, Dussy made the decision to go public. She began talking with the media about
00:38:42
her allegations and openly campaigning for other survivors of child sexual abuse.
00:38:48
She also started meeting with politicians and other officials whom she hoped could help in the fight to return
00:38:54
Mrs. Lifer to Melbourne. Darcy dubbed her campaign Bring Lifeer Back. Then two months later, Nicole received a
00:39:05
text message from a former classmate. The classmate's sister had been attending a religious festival in
00:39:12
northern Israel when she noticed a familiar face amongst the crowd. It was Mala Lifer.
00:39:21
Despite life's lawyers arguing she was housebound and needed a carer to help her function, she looked strong and
00:39:28
healthy. The classmate's sister snapped a photo of Lifer and the classmate forwarded it
00:39:35
to Nicole. Seeing Lifer casually standing out in public with no sign that she was unwell
00:39:42
was glawing. It seemed to completely refute the claims that Lifer was bedridden and
00:39:49
unable to attend court. Nicole sent the photo to Darcy who posted it on Facebook.
00:39:56
From there, it went viral and Darcy's campaign picked up speed. [Music] Within several months, Nicole and Ellie
00:40:07
went public alongside Darcy. They gained the support of Australia's prime minister and Victoria's premier.
00:40:16
The story made major headlines all over the country and word spread internationally.
00:40:23
In November 2017, the three sisters traveled to Jerusalem to campaign for life's extradition.
00:40:31
The 9-day visit was packed with meetings with Israeli politicians, the Israeli justice minister, and the country's top
00:40:38
prosecutor. The sisters also met with other survivors and victims advocates. One individual who reached out to them
00:40:47
was Sha Aronson, the Israeli director of Jewish Community Watch, a global organization aimed at preventing child
00:40:55
sexual abuse within Orthodox Judaism. Shaana was well aware of how Israel could be used as a safe haven by some
00:41:05
sex offenders. After 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, the state of
00:41:11
Israel was founded on the basis of protecting Jewish people from persecution elsewhere.
00:41:18
One of the country's foundational laws was the law of return, which gave all Jews the right to move there and become
00:41:25
Israeli citizens. According to Shauna Aronson and others working in child protection in Israel,
00:41:33
this had led to a number of incidents where individuals wanted for sex crimes in other countries would hide out in
00:41:40
Israel. At the time, there were 64 other suspected sexual offenders who were allegedly seeking refuge there.
00:41:50
Most of these people were either Orthodox or ultraorthodox. They would move into isolated and
00:41:57
insular communities within Israel where it was harder for authorities to access them.
00:42:04
Sha agreed with Nicole, Darcy, and Ellie that Malifa was likely lying about her ill health in order to evade justice.
00:42:13
It just seemed too coincidental that a fit and able-bodied woman who was also a community leader would suddenly
00:42:20
deteriorate right in the middle of being taken to court. Shauna Arnonson believed that if they
00:42:27
could show Lifer was lying, then Israeli authorities would be forced to rearrest
00:42:32
her. And she had a plan as to how they could prove it. Emmanuel is a small impoverished Israeli
00:42:48
settlement on the West Bank near Jerusalem. It is one of eight ultraorththodox settlements along the West Bank.
00:42:57
In 2016, after it was ruled that Malca would no longer have to attend extradition hearings, she relocated to
00:43:05
Emanuel with her husband. Lifer's husband, Rabbi Yakov Ysef Lifer, reportedly led the small community
00:43:14
there. They had closed ranks around his wife, believing she should not have to face
00:43:20
secular authorities in Australia for the allegations against her. Shauna Aronson and the team at Jewish
00:43:28
Community Watch had decided that the best way to find out if Malifa was lying was to send private investigators after
00:43:36
her. The investigators would be tasked with looking into Lifera's day-to-day activities in the hopes of disproving
00:43:44
her claims of being incapacitated with mental illness. Because Emmanuel is highly insular,
00:43:51
Jewish Community Watch knew that sending in private investigators would be a slow
00:43:56
and careful process. The lead investigator, Safria Sahi, decided his team would pose as
00:44:05
construction workers. This would be the easiest way to slip into the community without attracting
00:44:11
attention. The undercover agents were armed with tiny cameras installed into what looked
00:44:17
like everyday items like sets of keys, water bottles, and bags. While pretending to work on construction
00:44:26
sites, shop at local stores, and chat on the street, they would try to catch Malifa out and about.
00:44:34
On the late morning of Wednesday, December 14, cameras caught Lifer standing on a street with one of her
00:44:41
sons. She was chatting on the phone, completely unaware that she was being filmed.
00:44:48
4 days later, Lifeer was filmed as she shopped at a grocery store and made inquiries with the shopkeeper.
00:44:55
Private investigators captured Lifa smiling, having all day long phone conversations, meeting with others for
00:45:02
social engagements, and carrying shopping home by herself. She caught an hour-ong bus trip to Tel
00:45:10
Aviv to visit some of her children and grandchildren in the suburb where they lived.
00:45:16
On weekends, her children traveled to Emanuel to visit her. The reality of Lifeer's situation was
00:45:24
nothing like the picture that had been painted by her lawyers. Private investigators saw no sign of the
00:45:31
carer she supposedly required. Instead, they'd captured more than 200 hours of footage that showed Malifa
00:45:40
leading a normal life. This footage was handed over to Israeli police who commenced their own
00:45:47
investigation into the matter. In February 2018, after concluding that the former school principal was feigning
00:45:56
her illness, police rearrested Malca Lifer. Almost exactly a decade after Darcy Erlic first accused Lifer of abusing
00:46:10
her, the extradition hearings began again. Finally, after a total of 74 court dates
00:46:17
and years of delays, the Israeli court rejected Life's claim of mental illness and ruled that she was fit to stand
00:46:25
trial in Australia in May 2020. 7 months later, the extradition order was signed and on Monday, January 25,
00:46:35
2021, Mala Lifer was flown back to Melbourne. She would be held on remand until it was
00:46:42
time for her trial. Nicole Mayer, Darcy, and Ellie Sappa were overjoyed that their abuser would
00:46:51
finally have to face them in court. They had always felt that in coming forward,
00:46:57
they were speaking on behalf of survivors who felt unable to. And Malifa had many other alleged victims.
00:47:07
Before Lifer moved to Melbourne in 2001, she had been a teacher at an ultraorthodox girl school in Benet
00:47:15
Brock, Israel, at least one woman had reported that Lifer had abused her when she was a
00:47:21
student there. Rumor had it that she wasn't the only one, and the school's administration had
00:47:28
known they had a problem when it came to Lifer. It was said that was why they'd provided
00:47:34
glowing references when Adas Israel school looked into hiring her. They were eager to get rid of the problem.
00:47:44
During her time at Adas Israel school, Lifer had allegedly abused up to 15 girls.
00:47:51
Aside from Nicole, Dariandelli, none had publicly come forward or filed criminal
00:47:57
reports. And after Lifer fled to Israel in 2008, the abuses continued. In 2018, the Sydney Morning Herald
00:48:09
published an article that looked into the Emanuel settlement where Lifer was living.
00:48:14
One resident who went by the name Daniel told the Sydney Morning Herald that shortly after arriving in Emanuel, Lifer
00:48:21
offered to privately tutor his daughter religious studies. Unaware of her history or the
00:48:27
accusations against her, Daniel agreed. When his daughter reported that Lifer had abused her during their lessons,
00:48:35
Daniel was furious. He hired a private investigator to follow Lifer and began observing her
00:48:43
himself. According to Daniel, Lifer would lure disadvantaged children into her home by
00:48:50
offering them free food and lessons. On one occasion, he witnessed Lifera grab a blond-haired girl, then grope her
00:48:58
chest and buttocks. Daniel decided to confront Life's husband about what she had done to his
00:49:05
daughter. Her husband replied, quote, "She likes to touch, but that's all she does because she's a loving person.
00:49:16
But we did try not to leave her alone with kids." The trial of Mala Lifer, who was now 56
00:49:26
years old, began in Melbourne in February 2023. Most of the original 74 charges were
00:49:34
dropped, leaving Lifer to face 27 counts of rape and indecent assault. The trial lasted 6 weeks, and it took
00:49:43
the jury almost 2 weeks to deliberate. On Monday, April 3, they were ready to deliver their verdict.
00:49:54
Because there were so many charges, the verdict for each had to be announced individually.
00:50:00
Nicole, Darcy, and Ellie were in the courtroom holding each other's hands. The first five charges related to the
00:50:08
abuse of Nicole Meyer. Each count was read aloud and then the verdict followed. All five were found not guilty.
00:50:22
Nicole's heart dropped. She felt like falling to the ground, but she managed to stay upright, squeezing her sister's
00:50:30
hands even harder. As the jury moved on to the charges relating to Darcy, the verdict of not
00:50:38
guilty was repeated four more times. But then, as they continued with the remaining charges, the answer changed.
00:50:48
Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Mala Lifer was found to guilty on 18 counts of rape, indecent assault, and
00:51:00
sexual penetration of a child aged 16 or 17. All of these charges related to crimes
00:51:07
against Dussy and Ellie Sappa between 2003 and 2007. The three sisters felt a rush of relief,
00:51:17
which for Nicole was tinged with pain. She turned around to stare at Malifa, who was seated alone in the back of the
00:51:26
courtroom. As Nicole glared at Lifer, she tried to communicate a silent message that she
00:51:34
didn't care what the jury had decided. She knew what Lifer had done and wanted to show her that she wasn't broken.
00:51:43
Lifer refused to meet Nicole's eyes. Nicole knew this meant her message had been received.
00:51:52
[Music] Dussy Erlic and Ellie Sappa read from victim impact statements during Mala
00:52:00
Lifeer's sentencing hearing. Dussy described how Lifeer had whispered, "I love you like a mother."
00:52:08
as she reached under Dar's clothes for the very first time. Darcy said that this betrayal from the
00:52:16
first person to ever show her a maternal kind of love had damaged her ability to
00:52:21
trust forever. Life is abuse had caused Dussy to suffer migraines, chronic illness, and
00:52:29
struggles with her mental health that often left her feeling suicidal. Quote, "Her abuse still lives within my
00:52:38
body. In some ways, her trauma will always live within my body. The abuse has forced me numerous times to choose
00:52:47
between life and death. Ellie Sapper described the flashbacks, nightmares, and panic attacks she still
00:52:55
experienced on a daily basis. She also revealed that up until recently, she had been pregnant.
00:53:04
Throughout the trial, Ellie's unborn daughter had been a light that gave her courage.
00:53:10
But 6 days before Life's verdict was delivered, her baby's heart stopped beating.
00:53:17
Ellie told the court, quote, "I will never know if the stress, the worry, the anxiety, or the years of trauma played
00:53:26
any part in the loss of my little girl." Both Ellie and Darcy said that despite the damage Lifer had done, she hadn't
00:53:36
managed to destroy them. Addressing Life directly, Darcy stated, "Mala Lifer, you shattered my trust and
00:53:47
stole my body and altered my life's course, but you could not break my spirit. Today, I stand as a survivor. Your
00:53:57
darkness does not define me. Instead, I choose to focus on the light within myself, the love that surrounds
00:54:06
me, and the power of my own voice. I will continue to heal and grow and thrive. Mala Life's barrista argued that his
00:54:19
client should receive a credit for being found not guilty of abusing Nicole Meyer. He also said that her period of
00:54:27
home detention years earlier in Israel should count towards a reduced sentence. But the prosecution reminded the court
00:54:36
that Israeli authorities found Lifer had feigned mental illness for 4 years to avoid a justice. That only came to an
00:54:45
end after private investigators proved she was lying, not because Malifa had suddenly demonstrated remorse.
00:54:54
Therefore, the home detention in Israel should not factor into her sentence at all.
00:55:01
In August 2023, the judge sentenced Malaifa to 15 years in custody with a non-parole period of 11 years and 6
00:55:10
months. In the 2 years since her incarceration, there have already been multiple reports
00:55:17
of Lifer committing further offenses against other inmates. In April 2025, news broke that Mala
00:55:26
Lifer had formed a relationship with Samantha as a party, a con artist whose case was covered in episode 323 of Case
00:55:34
File. There were reports that 58-year-old Lifer was seen exchanging notes with 36-year-old Samantha and that Lifer had
00:55:43
once kissed Samantha on the lips. [Music] Nicole Meyer, Dariolic, and Ellie Sappa
00:55:50
told news.com.au that this development was extremely disturbing given Samantha Azapati's
00:55:57
history of dressing up as a school girl and her mental health issues relating to
00:56:01
sexual abuse. Several months later, in July 2025, Lifer was accused of sexually assaulting
00:56:09
an Aboriginal inmate aged in her 20s. A source told news outlets that the assault was captured on CCTV and took
00:56:19
place in the Murray unit, a section of the prison where inmates are segregated for their own protection.
00:56:26
Following this incident, Lifer was moved to solitary confinement. She cannot mix with other inmates and is
00:56:33
confined to herself for at least 23 hours a day. Her only daily break is to be permitted a 20-minute visit to an
00:56:42
airing yard or to a lounge room with a broken television. In the wake of these incidents, Nicole
00:56:50
Meer told news.com.au, Are you I just hope the community or members of her family have a deep heart think about
00:56:59
reading these stories and maybe just maybe start to believe that Mala Lifaer did actually abuse us.
00:57:12
In addition to wanting Malcolife held accountable, Nicole Mer, Dussy Olri, and Ellie Sappa had wanted their former
00:57:19
school to answer for its lack of duty of care. Nicole and Ellie reached out of court
00:57:26
settlements with the Das Israel school, but when negotiations failed with Dussy,
00:57:31
she sued them for negligence in 2015. This civil suit led to a disturbing revelation.
00:57:41
On Wednesday, March 5, 2008, a group of individuals associated with the Adas Israel School, including two board
00:57:49
members, had attended an urgent meeting to discuss the emerging allegations against Malca Lifer.
00:57:57
The attendees called Lifer at her home to address the abuse claims, which she denied.
00:58:04
The story the school had always told was that Lifaer was subsequently stood down.
00:58:11
In reality, they told her to leave the country. Between 9 and 10:00 that night, the wife
00:58:20
of one of the school board members called a local travel agent. She said someone needed to travel to Israel
00:58:28
urgently and requested the next possible flight. Using school funds, she paid for Malifa
00:58:36
and four of her children to fly out of Melbourne at 1:20 a.m. No one from the school who knew about
00:58:44
the allegations notified the police. More than 8 years later, Malifa was living in the Israeli settlement of
00:58:53
Emmanuel and was still abusing girls. Daniel, the father of one of these girls, began secretly recording Lifer
00:59:02
and her husband after she kept harassing his daughter. He also looked into Lifer's past and
00:59:09
discovered she was on the run from sexual abuse allegations in Australia. During a conversation with Lifer's
00:59:17
husband, Rabbi Yakov Ysef Lifer, the rabbi admitted that they and their children were paid to leave Australia
00:59:26
just hours after Lifer was confronted about the allegations. Lifer hadn't made her own decision to
00:59:34
flee Australia. Instead, the school that employed her had decided to help her escape rather than refer her to law
00:59:42
enforcement for her crimes against children. Moreover, the suit also found that a
00:59:49
teacher at the school had been told about Lifer quote crossing boundaries with girls at least 6 months before
00:59:56
Darcy raised the alarm. The judge who was presiding over the civil suit lashed out at the school
01:00:04
board for these actions, stating, "The conduct amounts to disgraceful behavior, demonstrating a complete
01:00:12
disregard for life as victims. It demonstrates a disdain for due process of criminal investigation in this
01:00:20
state." The judge found that at the time of Darcy's abuse, the school had no processes or procedures in place to
01:00:29
handle potential sexual misconduct by a staff member against students. At least two teachers had noticed or
01:00:37
been told about Lifer's inappropriate behavior with students, but said they had no one they could report it to
01:00:44
because quote, "Mrs. Lifer was the principal." The judge awarded Darcy more than $1.1
01:00:52
million Australian dollars in damages to be paid by the school. Lifer herself was ordered to pay Darcy
01:01:00
an additional $150,000. The revelation that the school board had facilitated and arranged Life's escape
01:01:12
upset and angered Life's victims and the broader community. Some members of the public demanded that
01:01:19
those responsible face criminal charges for their actions. Victoria Police looked into the matter
01:01:26
but closed their investigation in 2018, explaining there was quote insufficient evidence to proceed with any charges at
01:01:36
this time. Advocates for sexual abuse survivors openly voiced their disappointment in
01:01:44
this decision. In June 2023, the police announced that they would reopen the probe now that the
01:01:51
more pressing criminal trial against Malifa was complete. Dussy told the age newspaper that she
01:01:59
welcomed the decision, stating, "The actions of the board in facilitating Malifa's escape not only
01:02:07
betrayed the pursuit of justice and caused significant delays, it also perpetuated the anguish we were forced
01:02:14
to endure." and hindered our path to healing. As of the release of this episode of
01:02:21
Case File, that investigation is ongoing. The actions of the school board have been compared to the way the Catholic
01:02:31
Church has been found to transfer pedophile priests to new parishes when allegations were made against them.
01:02:38
Experts have said that the insular nature of some religious institutions has led them to prioritize their own
01:02:45
reputations over reporting crimes to law enforcement. In the case of Mala, some people have
01:02:53
pointed to a Jewish dictate known as Msira. This is a law against informing on a
01:03:00
fellow Jew to secular authorities. It was most likely initiated when Jews were living under Roman nor Persian law.
01:03:09
As the Jewish people continued to be persecuted by other groups through the centuries, Msera remained significant.
01:03:18
Msera has been cited in other cases of child sexual abuse within orthodox and ultraorththodox institutions in
01:03:25
Australia. Msira likely also played a role in how Malca's case was handled by some
01:03:35
officials in Israel. After Lifer was rearrested in 2018, a prominent ultraorththodox rabbi burst
01:03:44
into the courtroom during one of her hearings. He demanded Lifer be released into his
01:03:50
care for home detention, arguing that it was a humiliation for her to be kept in
01:03:55
custody. The judge agreed until an enormous public backlash led to the rabbi withdrawing his support.
01:04:05
In February 2019, it was revealed that Israel's then deputy health minister, Yakov Litzman, was suspected of having
01:04:14
worked to protect Lifer. Like Lifer, Litzman follows an ultraorththodox form of Judaism.
01:04:23
Police were investigating him on suspicion of witness tampering in the case. In April 2015, the court psychiatrist
01:04:33
tasked with examining Lifer found no signs of mental illness and said she was fit to stand trial.
01:04:41
By the start of 2016, he went back on this, writing in a new report. The patient is totally non-functional,
01:04:50
confined to her bed, and is on the verge of having a power of attorney appointed
01:04:54
for her. He hadn't seen this for himself, but it was what Life's sister-in-law had told
01:05:02
him, and it was this report that led to Life's extradition hearing ceasing altogether.
01:05:11
When Mala Lifaer was later found to have figned her mental illness, the psychiatrist approved a report saying
01:05:18
she was fit for trial. He later reiged on this yet again when Life's defense attorneys questioned him
01:05:26
on the stand while appealing her extradition. According to Israeli police, this was
01:05:33
due to Deputy Health Minister Litzman placing pressure on him. It was reported that police had phone
01:05:41
messages and recordings of Litzman requesting that officials in Israel's health ministry act to ensure Lifer
01:05:47
wasn't extradited to Australia. Litzman allegedly threatened to fire people if Lifer didn't receive the
01:05:55
desired psychiatric reports. The police recommended Litzman be prosecuted for his actions.
01:06:04
In January 2022, he signed a plea deal acknowledging that he had criminally assisted Malifa in evading extradition
01:06:12
to Australia. As part of the deal, he had to pay a fine and retire. Many in Melbourne's Adashas community
01:06:25
remained silent regarding Malifa's crimes. DSolik and Ellie Sappa have both left
01:06:33
the congregation, but Nicole Meer remains on its fringes. She finds this silence one of the
01:06:40
hardest things to grapple with. Only recently, she spoke with a woman who said she had known about the abuse.
01:06:48
She had actually once walked in on life for abusing Nicole, but she begged Nicole not to tell anyone
01:06:56
what she'd said. Hearing things like this has been particularly difficult when Nicole is
01:07:03
the only one of the three sisters that Lifa wasn't convicted of abusing. Nicole doesn't know why Lifer was
01:07:11
acquitted of her charges, but suspects it was due to the limited information presented to the jury. Evidence could
01:07:19
only be given about two specific time periods that Lifer was charged for. They weren't told about the broader context,
01:07:26
including the earlier years of grooming and abuse. Like her sisters, Nicole wrote a lengthy
01:07:34
victim impact statement, but because Lifer was acquitted of her charges, she couldn't read it in court.
01:07:42
Instead, she shared it with the media outside the courthouse. She described the scars she was left
01:07:49
with, both visible and invisible, and how the abuse has had ongoing ramifications for Nicole's well-being.
01:07:57
It has impacted her relationships with other people, including those closest to her.
01:08:04
To this day, Nicole suffers from sleep disorders and finds particular places triggering.
01:08:12
In the years after Lifaer left Australia, Nicole was harmed by another authority figure she placed trust in.
01:08:20
She blames the abuse she suffered as a teenager for making her vulnerable to another predator.
01:08:26
Quote, "My radar was so compromised that I did not see the red flags until I was
01:08:32
harmed again. Mrs. Lifer took away the part of me that would have known how to trust my own
01:08:39
instinct and feel I don't deserve to get hurt or know that care from some people
01:08:46
is a very dangerous thing. Not only was life as verdict personally devastating for Nicole, but it hurt as
01:08:57
the only one of the three sisters who is still ultraorththodox. While all three women have become
01:09:03
advocates for child sexual abuse survivors, Nicole particularly wanted to be an example for survivors in the
01:09:10
ultraorththodox community. She hoped to demonstrate it was possible to remain in the faith while also
01:09:17
seeking justice. The not-uilty verdict has made her feel as though other ultraorththodox victims
01:09:24
might remain reluctant to come forward. But it's clear that some have found strength in the sisters fight. In May
01:09:34
2023, another victim of Malifers from Adas Israel school reached an outofc court settlement with the school and
01:09:43
survivors from all over the world have reached out to Nicole Dari and Ellie via social media.
01:09:50
In January 2024, Dussy Erlic published a memoir titled In Bad Faith. Dusty's book tells her story in her own
01:10:00
words and received widespread acclaim upon its publication. Nicole Meer began studying law as a way
01:10:08
to help more victim survivors in a system that still has much room for improvement.
01:10:15
She also performs advocacy work both online and in person with a special focus on assisting survivors who have
01:10:21
been harmed within a religious community. This work has seen her support survivors
01:10:27
from various religious faiths and from countries all over the world. Nicole is affiliated with National
01:10:35
Survivors Day, an annual day of recognition for survivors of sexual abuse and their supporters and the
01:10:41
National Survivors Foundation. In an effort to speak out further for other survivors, the sisters agreed to
01:10:50
share their journey for justice with filmmakers Adam Cameian and Ivan Omani. Over the course of 5 years, the
01:10:58
filmmakers interviewed the trio and followed their case in real time as they fought for Lifer's return to Australia.
01:11:06
Their documentary titled Revealed: Surviving Mala Lifera premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in
01:11:13
August 2025. At the time of this episode's release, Australian listeners can watch the
01:11:20
documentary on the streaming platform Stan. In November 2017, when the three sisters
01:11:29
made their journey to Israel to campaign for life's extradition, they stopped at
01:11:33
a restaurant in Jerusalem. While they were sitting at their table, they were approached by an
01:11:39
ultraorththodox teenage girl. She had seen the sisters on the news and heard about their campaign.
01:11:48
In an interview with the age, Darcy explained why the girl had approached them. Quote,
01:11:55
she shared a similar story to ours. An insular school, vulnerable students, a female principal abusing her power.
01:12:05
As soon as she said it, you could see the fear. She wouldn't tell us her name or what
01:12:11
school she went to, but seeing us, our story, and the campaign on TV had given her the courage
01:12:20
and understanding to stop what was happening to her. [Music]