Story By: Sibel Abdiu, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:Central European News
A gang of two men and two women have been convicted and now could face jail terms totalling up to 121 years for filming this video in which they abducted and beat up two young women, before forcing one of them to strip off.
The gang of four had forced the pair into a car at knifepoint and driven them up Palandoken Mountain, near the city of Erzurum in north-eastern Turkey’s Erzurum Province.
Palandoken Mountain boasts Turkey’s longest ski trail. The 3,271 metre (10,732 ft) summit is located only 10 kilometres (6 miles) from Erzurum city centre.
The four then made the two girls get out of the vehicle in the foothills before brutally beating them up, kicking them in the head and body, and smashing their heads against the ground.
They then forced one of the girls to take off her top at knifepoint.
The two terrified victims, named only by their initials of B.Y., 17, and C.C. 24, were left on the mountain – without their shoes – meaning they had to walk back down in bare feet.
The girls later lodged a complaint against the gang and police arrested four suspects who have been named as Ahmet D., 18, Eren S., 24, Sevcan B., 20, and Sercan U., 19.
The four, who filmed the abuse on their smartphones, adbucted and tortured the young woman after accusing them of spreading stories about them.
Cops say the smartphone footage shows Ahmet D. threatening C.C. with a knife and telling her to strip off. She takes off her top and is forced to pose for the camera.
Ahmet D. was also accused of threatening B.Y. – his ex-girlfriend – with the knife and telling her that he will kill her unless she has sex with him.
All four suspects have already appeared in court where they were found guilty. Ahmet D has been remanded in custody while the other three have been released on bail pending a further hearing for sentencing.
Prosecutors are seeking a jail sentence of between 12 and 55 years for Ahmet D. on multiple charges including sexual harassment of a minor and abduction. His alleged accomplices face between five and 22-and-a-half years in prison.
Ahmet D. told the first hearing he had been in a relationship with B.Y. for three or four months and said he deeply regretted what he had done.
He said: “She was telling people she was pregnant from me and we were going to get married but this made me furious.
“She was my girlfriend I was planning to marry her. It is true that I forced C.C. to undress but I didn’t threaten her with anything. They were both my girlfriends. I regret the incident. I cannot bare looking at my mother and sister crying.”
But Court President Kocer Baltali told him: “You claim you wanted to marry her, but nobody would force a person they wanted to marry to undress in front of everybody.
Picture Credit: CEN
