Specialist sergeant faces up to 17 years in prison for ‘sexual abuse’

"Don't whitewash child abuse; prevent it!"

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Sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Şırnak, specialist sergeant Aslan A. has been indicted.

The incident happened on July 14, 2020. After the child subjected to sexual assault screamed, the citizens in the vicinity caught the specialist sergeant Aslan A. and turned him over to the police.

As reported by Zeynep Durgut from Mezopotamya Agency (MA), sergeant Aslan A. was taken before the court and arrested on charges of "sexual abuse of the child" and "threat with a weapon". The suspect dismissed the allegations at court, saying that he had been drunk.

In the indictment prepared by the Şırnak Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, there is also camera footage showing that specialist sergeant Aslan A. entered the apartment where the child lives, walked around the floors for some time, encountered H. and her friend Z. in the meantime and sexually assaulted H. during this encounter, children H. and Z. escaped from the scene of the incident, Aslan A. walked around the floors for some time after the incident, left the building and got on his car in the car park.

First hearing on February 2

According to the indictment, the assaulted child and her friend talked about this incident with their mothers and the suspect specialist sergeant was identified from the video footage after this.

The indictment has also indicated that the residents of the apartment informed neighborhood guard M.M.E. about the issue and four witnesses including M.M.E. saw the suspect in the car park.

Referring to the overlapping witness statements, the indictment has noted that "after M.M.E. saw the suspect in a compromising position, he knocked on the car's window; in response to this, the suspect directed his weapon to the complainant, threatening him with the weapon."

According to the indictment, M.M.E. noticed the crowd around the car and protected the suspect in case of any harm. Then, the suspect was taken to the police station by the law enforcement officers.

Demanding 17 years in prison for specialist sergeant Aslan A. on charges of "sexual abuse" and "threat with entrusted weapon", the indictment has been accepted by the Şırnak Penal Court of First Instance.

The first hearing will be held on February 2. (EMK/SD)