Two police officers arrested over alleged rape in Turkey’s Kocaeli

ISTANBUL

Two police officers were arrested on charges of raping a woman in the northwestern Turkish province of Kocaeli on Nov. 15.

The alleged rape occurred after the police officers, identified only by the initials K.T. and N.U., witnessed a woman having sexual intercourse with a man in a car in Kocaeli’s Çayırova district.

After they intervened they are accused of taking the woman outside of the car, before one of them raped her.

Following the incident, the woman made a complaint about the two police officers, who have both reportedly been on duty at the Çayırova Police Station for at least 15 years, saying she was raped.

As the investigation into the incident continued, the two police officers were suspended from duty and detained.

The court then ordered their arrest pending trial.

Back on Oct. 5 a police officer in the southern province of Antalya’s Alanya district was arrested after beating up a woman and dragging her by the hair on the street district.

The video of the woman, who was later determined to be a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, lying on a street in front of two police officers was recorded by locals in the area. The video shows the two policemen initially speaking to the woman before one of them kicks her several times, beating her with his baton and dragging her by the hair.

After the video was widely shared by Turkish social media users on Oct. 4, the Alanya Public Prosecutor’s Office and the provincial security directorate opened an investigation into the incident.