Fear of exams may have reached an unprecedented level in Israel, as an 11-year-old boy from Rechovot told authorities he was the victim of an attempted abduction, all to avoid going to school for a mathematics exam.

The mother of the child received a phone call from the school on Tuesday, that her son failed to appear for class. When she got home she found his shoes and some of her personal belongings strewn around the home, resulting in her fearing something wrong may have occurred. A short time later, her son appeared, quite wet, and quite covered with dirt and mud. “Ima, a man abducted me and held me until eventually, I managed to run away!” he told her. She immediately phoned police.

Mom did report to Rechovot police to file a formal complaint, by then having some time to think things over, telling police she did not believe her son’s story. She added that since he remained adamant, insisting on the legitimacy of his story, she decided to come in and file out the paperwork.

Police report the child was quite convincing, explaining how he was abducted from the home, taken by car to a “mysterious parking area” where there was a small table and a chair, a story resembling a TV drama. He told police “at some point, I managed to see an opening and I ran”.

When police told the child they wish to drive him to the area he was taken, he broke down and began crying, explaining he missed school because of the math exam and he was afraid to tell his parents.

Police turned the case over to city social workers.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)