Women face up to 10 years in prison for ‘abetting suicide’

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

A probe, which was launched into two women who allegedly encouraged a man to jump off a the Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul on March 8, has been completed, with the prosecutor demanding up to 10 years in prison for each women for “abetting suicide.”

An indictment, prepared at the Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office, said that the suspects, Hülya Uysal and Merve Özocak, allegedly abetted Erol Çetin to jump off the bridge when they shouted at him saying: “We have been waiting in traffic for hours because of you. Jump now if you are going to jump.” 

Upon the women’s call, Çetin, who was negotiating with police officers trying to talk him down, jumped off the bridge some 64 meters above the Bosphorus Strait. Çetin had previously attempted suicide but had been discouraged from doing so numerous times.

The indictment, which demands imprisoning the women from four to 10 years, included the suspects’ denial of the charges in their testimonies, saying that they did not intend to commit the crime. 

Meanwhile, according to the witness testimonies of police officers at the scene, he was in the process of being convinced to save himself but jumped off the bridge in a reaction to the women’s’ calls.