* Photo: Evrim Kepenek - bianet
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Holding fake job interviews in the name of a private company in Muğla's Milas district and forcing the women who came to the interviews to do sex work, arrested defendant Mutlu E. and four other defendants appeared before the judge at the Bodrum 1st Heavy Penal Court.
The hearing on Tuesday (October 26) was attended by complainant Sibel Y. and her lawyers from the Law Bureau Against Sexual Harassment and Rape in Detention as well as women's rights defenders.
At the third hearing of the case on August 3, 2021, the Forensic Medical Report found the DNA of a man in the DNA sample taken from Sibel Y. and the court board ruled that it should be compared with the DNA sample to be taken from arrested male defendant Mutlu E.
In the examination, it has been found that the DNA sample taken from Mutlu E. has matched with the one found on Sibel Y.
The prosecutor's office announced its final opinion as to the accusations at the last hearing and demanded that defendant Mutlu E. be penalized on charge sof "aggravated sexual assault" and "blackmail". The next hearing of the case will be held on December 30, 2021.
'Sibel collected evidence'
Speaking to bianet about the trial, Human Rights Association (İHD) Co-Chair and lawyer Eren Keskin has briefly said:
"That she acted right, took wipe samples and collected her own evidence was effective in reaching this conclusion in the trial.
"The prosecutor has demanded penalization on charges of blackmail and sexual assault and filed a criminal complaint for deprivation of liberty.
"There are other defendants in this trial. The prosecutor has demanded acquittal of these defendants. In fact, we know that Sibel was taken to the place where this crime was committed in an organized manner. We think that it is a gang where the state officials are involved and we know that this gang forces women to do sex work. We have always said this."
Concluding her remarks, lawyer Eren Keskin has called on the judiciary "to take action about these people as well."
What happened?
As reported by bianet on November 17, 2020, Sibel Y. announced that Mutlu E., who lives in Milas in Muğla province and whom she met for a job interview on March 3, abducted, tortured and sexually assaulted her. The man also reportedly forced Sibel Y. to do sex work.
After she escaped from Mutlu E., Sibel Y. applied to legal authorities as she wanted him to be penalized for what he had done to her. Almost like a prosecutor, she collected evidence, found voice records and looked for camera footage. She also tried to make her voice heard on social media under the hashtag "Sibel'in sessiz çığlığı" (the silent cry of Sibel).
After the issue was reported in the press, her struggle for justice has borne fruit as the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MPs brought it to the Parliamentary agenda and the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services provided her with protection.
According to the Forensic Medical Institution Report prepared by the Muğla Training and Research Hospital, it has been confirmed that Sibel was subjected to torture, sexual assault and battery.
The conclusion of the report has emphasized that Sibel's sexual inviolability was violated, adding that the attacks of Mutlu E. "caused Sibel Y.'s health and perception ability to be harmed to such an extent that such harm cannot be eliminated with a simple medical intervention."
Having "sexually assaulted" Sibel Y. and "forced her to sex work" in Milas, Muğla, Mutlu E. has been arrested a year after the incident. (EMK/SD)
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