Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
A young woman who was about to marry the love of her life has been killed by a man with a samurai sword who she had never met as she walked down the street because ‘movies made him do it’.
Basak Cengiz, 27, who was working as an architect in the Turkish capital city of Ankara, had travelled to the province of Istanbul on a work assignment about three weeks beforehand and was staying at a hotel.
On the day of the incident on 9th November, she was unable to catch the work shuttle with her colleagues because she had to work overtime, so she decided to walk back to the hotel at which she was staying.
Can Goktug Boz, who lives in the district of Atasehir, saw Basak passing by his apartment block, and despite having never met her, attacked her with a samurai sword, fleeing the scene after wounding her, according to local media outlet Haberler.
After the attack, Basak reportedly collapsed to the ground covered in blood. The young woman was taken to a private hospital in Atasehir in a critical condition. However, despite doctors’ best efforts, she could not be saved.
Police teams that went to the scene identified the suspect, whose age was not disclosed, after reviewing footage from the apartment block’s security cameras. They then conducted a raid on his residence.
The murder weapon was reportedly found in his apartment and that there were also phrases on the walls allegedly written by him that caught the cops’ attention, such as “stab them in the stomach”, “set a trap” and “kill those who argue”.
The suspect was arrested by officials from the Atasehir Public Security Bureau and taken into custody. He was later taken to the Gayrettepe Public Security Branch for questioning, where he was reported as being “mentally unstable”.
During his first interrogation, officers reportedly asked him: “Why did you commit this murder?” To which he reportedly replied: “I was influenced by the films I watched”.
The suspect remains in custody as the investigation continues.
