A BRUTAL child rape case that rocked the north last week took a further disturbing turn this week when a group of vigilantes attacked and tortured the father of one of the two men accused of the rape.
Osman Celebi, father of Kudret Celebi who is currently being held in custody pending his trail for abduction and rape of a minor, was abducted on Wednesday night by a group of around eight individuals while walking on a road near to his village of Inonu (Sinda) in the east of the island. Celebi’s attackers are said to have then placed a sack over his head and taken him to a remote area where they branded him with hot metal objects. The attackers are said to have carved his son’s name into Celebi’s skin.
The father of the accused was said yesterday to have been released from hospital where he received treatment for his injuries and for shock.
It is not known who carried out the attack. Relatives of the victim are not believed to have been involved.
The attack brought swift condemnation from all sides. Interior minister Ozkan Murat accused those who carried it out as being “just as depraved as the rapists”. Other politicians, such as Peace and Democracy Movement (BDH) leader Mustafa Akinci, also rounded on those who sought to take justice into their own hands.
“While what happened to the young girl is deplorable, it is also deplorable to abduct and torture an innocent man,” Akinci said.
Emotions in the north have been running high since the rape case came to light almost two weeks ago. Near riots broke out when the two accused first appeared in court, with angry crowds keen to carry out their own rough justice on the accused. Many said laws against rape and other forms of sexual abuse were far too lenient.
Fears of further angry scenes forced the courts and police to secretly reschedule a hearing planned for yesterday to Thursday. At the hearing, judge Bahar Sener ordered that the two suspects remain in custody until their trial amid fears they could face reprisals. The judge said he also feared giving bail as the two might try to escape justice by leaving the north.
On Wednesday night, the night Celebi was attacked, a candle-lit vigil was held for the rape victim outside the District Court in Famagusta. Backed by 36 NGOs and attended by around 500 people the vigil featured youngsters carrying banners reading “Light a candle for justice and leave a rose that looks to the future with hope”.
The only speech at the vigil was made by a school friend of the victim who through her tears told the gathering how the rape of her friend had “set the hearts of all Turkish Cypriots alight”. She added a call on the court to deliver justice in order that other women did not also fall victim to rapists.
Others have blamed the rape on the underage girl on what they see as a general decline in morals in Turkish Cypriot society.
National Unity Party (UBP) deputy Serife Unverdi called on community leaders to look at ways in which “unsociable behaviour” could be prevented through stricter laws, while Turkish Islamic Cultural Association head Mehmet Korkmaz said the rape was a reflection of the “moral bankruptcy” of contemporary society. He added that the educational system in the north had for years failed to provide spiritual guidance to its youth.
A report in yesterday’s Politis said Cyprus police had asked for the UN to obtain photographs of the two suspects in case one of them matched the profile of the notorious “Drakos”, a serial attacker and rapist who has been hounding women in the Nicosia and Larnaca regions. The report quoted “Turkish Cypriot sources”, who told the paper one of the suspects had confessed to attacking women in the south.
The police are said to be considering whether to ask the Turkish Cypriot authorities for DNA samples from the two, but are understood to be cautious about any possible link.
