Rape case to begin amid legal concerns
ISTANBUL
A
Sakarya court is set to host the first hearing of a case in which 34 men are
accused of sexually abusing and raping a 14-year-old girl, daily Radikal has
reported.
A total 34 men were arrested over the incident, however 14 of them have been released pending trial. Two of those released are police officers, one of whom has fled abroad.
Harika Güney Karakaş, the lawyer of the girl, is concerned that defendants in the case will claim that the girl consented to the intercourse. Karakaş gives the example of a previous case, in which the court agreed that a 13-year-old girl consented to having sex with 26 men.
"But the law is so clear," Karakaş said. "No consent is sought under the age of 15."
The girl has been under government protection and has been recieving psychological treatment since the incident was revealed three months ago.
A court desicion caused an uproar last year when the sentences for 26 men convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl were reduced, after it was claimed that the girl had consented to having sex with the men.
