25-Year Prison Term, No Arrest for Child Abuse Offender

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Quran course educator M.D., who was under trial without arrest for abusing 12-year-old E.S in the southersn province of Mersin., has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

While the court ruled that M.D. abused E.S. and deprived the child of his/her freedom, it did not rule that M.D. shall be arrested.

The case will be examined at the court of appeals, the Medyascope reported.

Meanwhile, the women who went to the courthouse to follow the hearing were prevented from entering the courthouse by the police.

They held a statement in front of the Tarsus courthouse.

"This verdict is still not a gain for the child. The perpetrator is still among us. We need to put up a struggle until the perpetrator is arrested. Of course, him receiving a sentence upon the top limit and the verdicts of the judiciary are important. The trials that conclude with impunity encourages people to commit other crimes.

"What will prevent the abuse is the policies. The regressive policies that target children are responsible for this abuse."

What happened?

12-year-old E.S. was sexually abused by Mehmet D., the imam of the mosque where she went for a Quran course in 2015, in Tarsus in the southern province of Mersin.

Almost three years later, the school counselor realized the situation and initiated the legal process against the man.

In 2018, a lawsuit was filed against Mehmet D. Having been arrested for five and a half months, he has been released from prison. In the last hearing of the case held at the Tarsus 2nd Heavy Penal Court in Mersin on March 21, the request for his arrest has been rejected again. (AÖ/VK)