Turkish Cypriot man 'rapes male relative with bat over secret affair blackmail'

Turkish Cypriot man 'rapes male relative with bat over secret affair blackmail'

Ömer Bilge - NICOSIA
Turkish Cypriot man rapes male relative with bat over secret affair blackmail

Farmer Ömer Ç. (L), his wife Rahme Ç. (C) and the victim of the alleged crime, Tanju E.

After discovering a male relative’s affair with his wife, a man in northern Cyprus raped the offending relative with a baseball bat, while the suspect’s wife recorded the incident for blackmail, according to victim’s testimony seen by daily Hürriyet.

The allegations of the love triangle were published by Turkish Cypriot media after 51-year-old banker Tanju E. went to the police in the town of Gazimağusa in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), claiming that he was sexually assaulted and blackmailed by his wife’s cousin, 38-year-old Ömer Ç., and his spouse, 30-year-old Rahme Ç., on June 20.

The married victim admitted that he had a secret affair with Rahme Ç., which was discovered by her husband earlier this year. He claimed that the infuriated man had threatened him with a gun in January, blackmailing him into paying 27,000 Turkish Liras since then.

According to reports, the couple had recently decided to set up a trap for Tanju E. to ensure he would not go to the police and keep paying them money. Believing that he might mend fences with Rahme Ç., the victim agreed to meet her at a derelict Armenian church near the village of Güvercinlik last week. 

What Tanju E. expected to be a reconciliation allegedly turned out to be a brutal attack. The victim told the police that he was talking with Rahme Ç. in front of the church when Ömer Ç. leaped out of the trunk of her car with a gun, forcing him to undress. He then raped him with a baseball bat and pliers after tying him up with rope.

“His wife recorded the assault with her cell phone and they threatened to distribute the video if I went to the police, shaming my family and my grown daughter,” Tanju E. told police.

The court at Gazimağusa extended the arrest period for the couple, as a medical report confirmed that the victim was sexually assaulted, Hürriyet learned.