‘İpek is not dead and she won’t until that man is penalized’

* Photos: Mezopotamya Agency (MA)

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

After Specialist Sergeant Musa O. was released from prison on August 25, the mother of İpek. E. has spoken to the press.

Having "raped" İpek E. in the district of Beşiri in Turkey's Kurdish-majority Batman province and driven her to suicide, Musa O. was released after only 10 days behind bars for "aggravated sexual assault."

Speaking to Jinnews website, Hakime Kılınç, the mother of İpek E. has said, "I will be a complainant as long as I am alive. I can give up on my life, but not on this case. He did this by trusting the gun in his waistband and the state." Kılınç has briefly stated the following:

'I sue the judge and prosecutor'

"As long as I am alive, I will not stop following up İpek's case. I will see it with my own eyes when that man is put on trial and punished.

"There is no justice; if there was, he would not have been released. How on earth could they release him? Where is the justice? Where is the law? The deceased body of İpek is still haunting me.

"I sue the judge and the prosecutor who released him. They do not have the right to make us go through this. İpek tried to hold on to life at hospital for days. I have no more strength to stand. They take him, then they release him... What kind of justice is that?

"His mother, his father... No one has even called us to say 'We are sorry on our son's behalf.' They have not expressed their condolences. They are trying to whitewash him. I do not accept this, I do not. İpek is not dead and she will not until that man is punished.

'He must be given the heaviest sentence possible'

"All I can think of now is that man's being put on trial. The only thing that will relieve me will be that man's penalization. They share his picture everywhere, but it is not enough. That person must be given the heaviest sentence possible. I will never forgive him. Are there no judges or prosecutors who can give him his well-deserved punishment?

"[Minister of Interior] Süleyman Soylu should have stood against [the ruling of release], saying 'How could you release him?' We have not even cleaned the place where İpek shot herself and her blood spilled. I do not forget the severed body of İpek. I will not forget it.

"Will you rape women because you are a soldier? What do you trust? My daughter could not say anything because she was afraid. I will follow up this case. May the whole Turkey and world know it."

'We will not stay silent'

The father of İpek has also addressed the public in a video. Indicating that "they will not stop following up the case," he has said, "If he is arrested today and released tomorrow, we will not stay silent then."

"My spouse fainted after she heard that he had been released," the father has said, briefly adding the following:

"We are as grieved as the very first day. I am calling out to the judge: Is your conscience easy? If she were his daughter, would he release that murderer and stay silent? Would he be a mere onlooker?

"I am also calling out to his attorney. I do not even want to say his name. Is he so vile that he works as his attorney?

"I am calling out to justice again: No matter who stands behind such a murderer as him, I want justice to be served. We are devastated as a family. I wish the necessary punishment will be given."

What happened?

Living in the Beşiri district of Turkey's southeastern province of Batman, İpek E. appealed to the Siirt Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on July 7 and filed a criminal complaint against specialist sergeant Musa O. Indicating that he raped her, E. gave a detailed deposition to the prosecutor.

On July 16, she left a letter and attempted to claim her life with a gun. She was taken to the Batman Regional Hospital. İpek E. was seriously wounded when she was hospitalized. After being treated there for 34 days, İpek E. lost her life at the hospital on August 18, 2020.

Musa O. was detained as part of the investigation on July 16. He was referred to court with a request for his arrest; however, he was then released on probation. The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office objected to this ruling, but it was not accepted. An indictment was prepared on July 27.

The indictment was returned due to missing points. The prosecutor's office objected to this decision as well. With this objection accepted, the office demanded Musa O.'s arrest again with this indictment. Amid social media outrage, Musa O. was arrested and sent to prison.

His attorneys objected to his arrest and the Siirt 2nd Heavy Penal Court accepted the objection. Musa O. was released on August 25. (AÖ/SD)