An 18-year-old woman who was repeatedly raped by a specialist sergeant in Turkey’s Southeast in July died in a hospital on Tuesday, 33 days after she tried to take her own life, according to the Turkish media.
İ. E. had left a suicide note accusing Musa Orhan of keeping her at a house for 20 days during which time she was regularly raped.
Orhan was detained by police on July 16, after the girl’s family filed complaint against him.
He denied the charges but admitted to having met her, adding that he was drunk that day.
Although a forensics report confirmed the rape, Orhan was released pending trial by a court.
A campaign on Turkish social media for the arrest of Orhan was launched on Tuesday, with users posting photos of him. Nearly 200,000 tweets were sent in a couple of hours, according to Turkish media.
Following the campaign, a court rejected an indictment drafted by the local prosecutor’s office and ordered detention of Orhan on Wednesday.
Domestic violence and femicides have recently been on the public agenda in Turkey, with the government considering withdrawal from an international treaty stipulating legislation for violence against women.