Allegation of harassment at a swimming pool in Eskişehir: 'When I said I had a cramp...'

12punto EXCLUSIVE

It is alleged that on December 18, at Eskişehir Osmangazi University, an individual named E.Ç. harassed S.S., whom he had invited to the swimming pool under the pretext of giving her a swimming lesson.

During the lesson, when S.S. stated that she had a cramp in her leg, E.Ç. began to massage her. 

S.S., who alleged that she was harassed during the massage, filed a complaint. 

DID NOT ACCEPT THE ACCUSATIONS

Following S.S.'s complaint, a case began to be heard at the Eskişehir 1st Criminal Court of Peace. E.Ç. did not accept the accusations and defended himself with the following words:

“I know the complainant from the Osmangazi University campus. She had said she wanted to take swimming lessons. I am not a swimming instructor, but I do this sport as a hobby. For 15 days, every time we went out to eat, the complainant insisted on saying she wanted to take swimming lessons. I told her she could come around 18:00. While I was giving her a swimming lesson, she said she was experiencing a cramp in the pool. I asked if she was in a condition to walk. She asked me to take a look. She wanted to take off her towel, I said 'don't take it off, leave it.' I spread my own towel on the ground. She lay face down and I spread her own towel over her. I told her to describe the place where the cramp was, she pointed to the upper part of her left leg above the knee, and I applied a 2-minute massage there. She got up and went to the locker room, and I went to my own locker room. When she didn't come out for half an hour, I called out to her. Since it was a registration day, the hall was empty. There are cameras everywhere anyway. She did not show any reaction while I was massaging. She went to the locker room. When she didn't come out for about half an hour, I went to ask if she was okay. At that moment, she said 'I'm fine' while drying her hair. I said 'you'll come to swim,' she said 'okay.' 15 minutes after she left, she called from her WhatsApp line, someone else was talking. She called me to the cafe where the complainant works, and I went. She is the operator of the cafe. This person was hurling insults, saying 'How could you harass her?' I said that no such thing happened. I said if such a thing had happened, she wouldn't have stayed in the locker room for half an hour and would have left immediately. I never touched the complainant in the way she mentioned, and this situation will be seen on the cameras,” he said, stating that he wanted to be tried without arrest.

IT MIGHT BE A MISUNDERSTANDING

E.Ç.'s lawyer stated that the suspect's place of residence is known and there is no suspicion of tampering with evidence.

The lawyer stated that they believe there is a misunderstanding regarding the incident, saying, “This situation will be understood when the camera recordings arrive in the file. We request that it be decided that he be tried without arrest so that no victimization occurs for the client; if your court is of the opposite opinion, we request that judicial control provisions be applied.”

TRIAL UNDER ARREST

The court decided that the suspect should be tried under arrest, citing strong evidence that E.Ç. committed the alleged crime and that there was no reason for S.S. to make a false accusation.