Acquittal in sexual assault case involving 8-year-old! Suspect threatened child with family's lives — abuse of other children also revealed

Hazal Güven - 12punto.com.tr

Eight-year-old Z.K., who lives in Şemsiler Mahallesi in Diyarbakır's Yenişehir district, was sexually assaulted by her 50-year-old neighbour A.Ö., a married father of seven children.

In the incident, which took place in May 2022, suspect A.Ö. lured the 8-year-old child to a green area behind his house under the pretext of "showing her a plum tree." He first urinated against a tree in front of the child, then exposed his genitals to her, grabbed her by the arm, and told her to pull down her trousers.

As the child tried to flee in fear, A.Ö. threatened her, saying: "If you tell anyone, I'll come to you in your dreams at night and I'll kill your family."

'DID HE DO TO YOU WHAT HE DID TO US?'

As 8-year-old Z.K. ran away from A.Ö. in tears, two siblings aged 6 and 7 who lived in another house on the same street spotted their friend Z.K. One of the children asked 8-year-old Z.K.: "Why did you go near that man? Did he do the same thing to you that he did to us?"

Shortly after the incident, as Z.K. was walking home with her mother H.Y., the perpetrator A.Ö. approached the mother and the victim child and greeted the mother. The incident came to light following that greeting.

Mother H.Y. recounts:

"We were coming home from the market when he came up to me because he is our neighbour. He greeted me, saying 'Hello neighbour, how are you?' This man had never spoken to me before, had never exchanged greetings with me, yet that day he greeted me. The moment my daughter saw him, she squeezed my hand and clung to my arm. She squeezed so hard it hurt. She started trembling. At that point, the man said he grows all kinds of things in his garden and that I could come and take whatever I needed without paying. He then leaned down toward my daughter and said, 'Come, let me give you some plums.' My daughter started screaming. She screamed 'I don't want any' and clung to me even tighter. We went inside — I already sensed something was wrong. She started crying. She said, 'Mum, if I tell you, he'll kill me. He'll come to me in my dreams at night. I'm already not sleeping at night.' And then she began to tell me what happened."

'I BEG YOU, DON'T TELL ANYONE'

After the incident came to light, mother H.Y. went to the perpetrator's home. The perpetrator's daughters and wife told mother H.Y.: "I beg you, please don't tell anyone."

The mother did not let the matter drop and filed a case against the perpetrator on 14.09.2022. In the case, 50-year-old A.Ö. was initially sentenced to 17 years in prison. In his first statement, the man claimed he did not know mother H.Y., whom he had lived across from for years, or the 8-year-old abuse victim Z.K.

The first hearing was held on 28.11.2022. However, the court issued a scandalous ruling, acquitting perpetrator A.Ö., who had been tried and faced 17 years in prison.

'HE TOOK ME TO THE BARN AND PULLED DOWN MY TROUSERS'

Mother H.Y. met with the neighbouring children aged 6 and 7, who stated that they too had been sexually abused. The children, in the presence of their own families, described the sexual abuse they had experienced. The 6-year-old child said the man had taken her to the barn by saying "Come, let me show you the cows and calves," pulled down her trousers, and touched her body.

The 7-year-old sibling also stated that while visiting the man's home to play with his grandchildren, the man had locked her in a room and done the same thing.

Although the children's mothers initially reacted, they later said they would not pursue the matter. One of them also told Z.K.'s mother H.Y.: "I will not involve my children in this. And if you mention us, I will give a statement in court to the contrary."

H.Y. still did not give up and filed a complaint with CİMER regarding the accounts given by the 2 other children who had made similar statements. Officials from the Ministry of Family and Social Services came, but the families did not file complaints. For this reason, the officials said: "There is nothing we can do regarding these children — we can only list them as witnesses."

'SHE HAS PANIC ATTACKS EVERY DAY AND CANNOT SLEEP AT NIGHT'

Eight-year-old Z.K., the victim of sexual abuse, has continued to fight a psychological battle in the three years since the incident. Unable to sleep at night, the child suffers panic attacks almost every day.

Mother H.Y. recounts:

"My child cannot sleep at all. Even when she does sleep, she wakes up at night with a start. When she sees someone with white hair who resembles him, she has a panic attack. My child has panic attacks every day. We are going through very difficult times."

'THE STATE-APPOINTED LAWYER DID NOT EVEN ATTEND A SINGLE HEARING'

When mother H.Y. sought to hold the perpetrator accountable in court for what her child had endured, she could not afford to hire a lawyer due to financial hardship. For this reason, a lawyer was assigned to her by the state. However, the mother said the appointed lawyer also failed to properly engage with the case and did not even attend the hearings.

News Source: Hazal Güven