Search underway to apprehend man who punched woman on street in Istanbul

Police have started searching for a man who shouldered and punched a woman walking on a street in Istanbul’s Ataşehir district, as news of violence against women are continuing at worrying levels in Turkey.

The assaulter with a backpack was identified through security footages obtained from security cameras of nearby buildings.

In the security footage widely shared on social media and analyzed by law enforcement officials, the man is seen approaching the headscarf-wearing woman from behind and punching her after the woman warns him about his shouldering.

The woman who crashed on the pavement after the punch is then seen surrounded by eyewitnesses who helped her get up.

“The man first ran into the woman then punched her. We saw the woman fall. When we rushed there, the man had left. It all happened in the blink of an eye,” Özkan Soncul, an eyewitness, told Doğan News Agency on Sept. 30.

The victim’s health condition is reported to be not life-threatening.