Acquittal of police officer convicted of rape: 'The victim has photos with other men'

Reason for the acquittal of special force officer B.K. reveals the reactionary mindset of the Turkish judiciary
Friday, 09 March 2018 19:20

Special operations police officer B.K., convicted for raping a young woman named M.B. in 2017 and dealing with a lawsuit since then, has been acquitted. The following reasons were granted for the acquittal: the raped victim was comfortable enough to wear her shorts at the accused’s home; she went to B.K.’s bedroom without any opposition and did not ask for help from the accused’s friend and brother who were in the next room, M.B. smoking a cigarette in front of B.K.’s house after the accusation, and these actions were not found appropriate in the context of the ordinary flow of life.

In the stated explanation, the victim's digital phone contact list included many men from different professions and she had also entered websites with sexual content websites on the same device. The statement also emphasized that there were "inappropriate" photos of the victim and other men.

Special force police officer was sued for 12 years for "qualified sexual abuse" against the 21-year-old M.B., and had been acquitted from the case on February 2018 in Mardin. The Mardin 1st Heavy Penal Court declared its justified decision on March 7.

According to the indictment, B.K. brought M.B., an open-education high school student who had been accredited through social media, to his house, made her use an excessive amount of alcohol and raped her. B.K. was released with a judicial control decision, and the objections of the prosecutor's office were rejected twice.

The victim had attempted to commit suicide by taking medications in Mardin the day of the case’s judgment hearing, and was discharged after she had stomach irrigation in the State Hospital.