Court Upholds 18 Year Sentence For Man Who Stabbed His Wife 38 Times In Kebab Restaurant

A court has thrown out a bid by Turkish man who stabbed his estranged wife 38 times in a kebab restaurant to have his 18-year jail term overturned.

Burak Kinci, 26, had supposedly hoped to rekindle his romance with Aycan Kinci, 23, when he invited her out for a kebab at a local restaurant in the western Turkish port city of Izmir on 3rd November last year.

When she refused his advances, the husband stabbed the mother of his two children 38 times with a knife that he took out of his pocket.

Aycan Kinci, 23, (left), a mother of two, was stabbed 38 times by her estranged husband Burak Kinci, (right), for wanting a divorce, in Izmir, Turkey, on 3rd November 2020. (Newsflash)

The woman was seriously injured in the attack and was taken to the Cigli Training and Research Hospital.

The public prosecutor’s office then filed a lawsuit against the husband in the High Criminal Court accusing him of “attempting to kill his wife deliberately”.

According to the indictment, the man invited his estranged wife to the kebab restaurant to talk. But after trying to win her back, she replied “it’s too early to go back”, and he took the knife out of his pocket and reportedly stabbed her.

Aycan Kinci, 23, (pictured), a mother of two, who was stabbed 38 times by her estranged husband Burak Kinci, for wanting a divorce, in Izmir, Turkey, on 3rd November 2020, giving an interview after the final hearing. (Newsflash)

The prosecutor, during the original trial, requested a prison sentence of 20 years against the defendant.

The defendant’s lawyer, who has been named as Zeynep Karakurt by local media outlet En Son Haber, argued that his client reacted in a moment of insanity and claims that he did not intend to kill the woman, adding that he had been unfairly provoked.

The defendant, in his final statement in the initial trial, agreed with his lawyer.

Aycan Kinci (23), the mother of two children living in Izmir, Turkey, who was stabbed in 38 places with a knife in November, allegedly by her husband Burak Kinci, after they were in a restaurant, because she wanted to leave him. (Newsflash)

The verdict in the initial ruling was handed down and the defendant was jailed for 18 years of hard time without the possibility of seeing the sentence reduced.

After the initial ruling, the victim Aycan Kinci said: “We have been fighting for a year. My supporters were too many. I did not deserve this. Thank God the accused has received a heavy sentence. He deserved this punishment. Justice was served. I hope this decision will set an example for all people and no one will dare repeat this.”

But the defendant’s lawyers appealed the sentence, which was handed down with the stipulation that it could not be reduced.

Burak Kinci who allegedly stabbed his wife Aycan Kinci(23), 38 times with a knife, after they met in a restaurant in Izmir, Turkey, in November last year, because she wanted to leave him. (Newsflash)

However, the Izmir regional Court of Justice has now upheld the original sentence, confirming that the defendant will, indeed, spend 18 years in prison.

According to the United Nations’ Global Database of Violence against Women, at least 38 percent of women in Turkey experience some form of physical or sexual violence from their partner.