Quran school rape case in eastern Turkey revealed upon instructor’s complaint

İsmail Saymaz – AĞRI

Three people accused of sexually abusing a child at a Quran school dormitory in the eastern province of Ağrı are facing a criminal probe, following a school instructor’s complaint.

The case, which involves the alleged rape of a nine-year-old boy by a 17-year-old instructor, emerged after Mehmet Arslan, another instructor at the course, filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office in 2016.

One month after Arslan was stationed at the İmam Buhari Men’s Quran School in November 2016, he noticed bruises on the nine-year-old victim’s face and neck, Arslan said in his court testimony back on May 31.

The accused course instructor was “kissing and sitting [the victim] him in his lap,” Arslan told the court, citing information he said he obtained from other students.

Before Arslan filed a complaint about the incident, the case was covered up by the dormitory authorities, which said the victim and the perpetrator were “just joking around.”

“They said the [victim’s] family saw the bruises and came to school to make a scene,” Arslan said.

“They told me the administration had sent the victim’s brother and sister back home, saying the children were just joking around by kissing, wrestling and falling down the stairs,” he added.

Arslan, who also said he was unjustly fired from the facility after filing the complaint, said the perpetrator remained stationed at the school for 33 days after the complaint.

Prosecutors are now investigating three officials at the dormitory, with school head Faruk Baykal and two other instructors accusing Arslan of defamation.

The 17-year-old suspect is currently on trial on charges of “sexual assault of a minor” and “deprivation of personal freedom.”