BRUTES !!! UNSEX THEM,NOW ...

Nearly 100 suspects in child abuse case in Southeast Turkey

A scandal has been revealed in the eastern province of Siirt, where two students filed a complaint against nearly 100 men, including elders and classmates, for rape and abuse transpiring over nearly two years.

The Siirt governor announced Wednesday that two civil servants had been suspended in relation to the case.

The scandal came to light when student H.T., 14, and her four friends talked to a guidance counselor and complained that the vice headmaster, Fahrettin Kuzu, was sexually harassing them and forcing them to have sexual intercourse. The guidance counselor consulted another vice headmaster, and in the end, both decided that the incident should be taken to the authorities. Fahrettin Kuzu reportedly fled upon learning about the complaint, according to testimony by H.T.’s uncle Mehmet T.

After the incident was reported to officials on April 10, around 100 suspects were interrogated. Some 16 were arrested and 25 were taken into custody. The men, whose ages range from 14 to 70, include the vice headmaster, a soldier, a policemen, classmates, local business owners and elderly men who have performed religious pilgrimages and come from well-known families in Siirt.

During the course of the investigation, the number of the victims has risen to seven. In addition to H.T., her sister S.T., 16, and another pair of sisters are among the victims. They all go to the same school. The two girls taken under protection by the Social Services and Child Protection Agency first gave three names. However, when they finally felt secure under the guidance of psychiatrists, they added 25 additional names to the list. Together with the testimony of the other girls, the number of the suspects has risen to around 100. The general belief is that, although the girls know the names of the soldier and police officer, they are too scared to give them away.

Ten days have passed since the scandal broke, but there has been no news from the city concerning the process of the case because the prosecutor’s office and the police department were not releasing any information, categorizing the investigation as classified.

The people of Siirt were afraid that their identities would be revealed after they gave out the names of the abusers and did not want to contribute to giving their city a bad name, as many men of the village were in solidarity over this. Moreover, many in the school knew about the situation and some of the students openly mocked the sisters by singing songs with sexual innuendos.

Hürriyet reporter Gülen Aydın, upon her return to Istanbul, was requested by an officer at the Siirt police department to testify in a lawsuit filed against her by Master Sheikh, who she allegedly photographed without his permission and is purportedly one of the suspects. The next day the police officers called her again twice and repeated their demand, which caused Aydın to doubt whether some well-known locals were involved in the crime.

Two sisters sharing the same fate

H.T and her sister S.T. come from a very poor family, as their father, Mithat T., is a porter in the market. They have five siblings with the youngest being 8 months old. Their oldest brother was lost 10 years ago and never found. Upon his daughters’ legal complaint, the father could not afford an attorney, but Deniz Doğan was assigned to the case by the state. He also represents the other sisters.

The elder sister S.T. was reported to have been raped in the fifth grade, but fear has kept her from telling her story. As the news spread among the locals, the number of the abusers increased. The abusers claimed to have offered her money, candies or biscuits, amounting to no more than 3 to 5 Turkish Liras. S.T. had to drop out of school in 2009.

As H.T. grew up, the locals began to see her as they did her sister and imposed their demands on her as well. The vice headmaster was claimed to have even threatened her, as a result of which she complained about him to the guidance counselor.

Expert psychiatrist relates

Dr. Can Ger, an expert at the Mental and Neurological Disorders Education and Research Hospital in Bakırköy said sexual crimes have been gradually increasing over the last year, Hürriyet reported citing Anatolian news agency.

Speaking at a symposium in Antalya, Ger said there have been 22,936 victims in almost 18,000 cases concluded by 2006. “Given the fact that not all the sexual assaults come to light, the figures are enough to point out the extent that society suffers from this. We used to receive a sexual abuse case once in 15 days, now we have at least one incident per day,” he said

April 21, 2010

GÜLDEN AYDIN

SİİRT - Hürriyet
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