Sentence of rape perpetrator reduced after ring he stole turns out to be a ‘fake’

İsmail Saymaz – ANKARA

An Ankara court has reduced the sentence given to a rape perpetrator who was also charged with theft on the grounds that the ring he stole was an “imitation.” 

The Ankara 3rd High Criminal Court initially handed down a sentence of 34 years and 8 months to the public bus driver named İbrahim Tuncay after he raped and took naked photographs of a teacher, identified only as S., before robbing the woman of her ring in an assault in January. 

The court initially said Tuncay was entitled to receive an imprisonment of 17 years on charges of “qualified sexual assault,” six years for “depriving one of their freedom,” four years for “violation of the right to privacy,” one year for “offense of threat,” and six years and eight months for “theft.” 

But because Tuncay stole the ring without knowing that it was an “imitation” and thought it was of high value, and as the real value of the item emerged as 20 Turkish Liras ($5.6), “this situation should be evaluated in favor of the suspect,” the court said. Accordingly, the court reduced Tuncay’s sentence given for the charge of “theft” by one-third. 

The victim’s lawyer, Hüsniye Şimşek, appealed against the sentence. “That the value of the seized ring is low is a reason of a sentence discount, the sentence should be given on a maximum limit, taking into account how the offense was committed, the density of the criminal intent, the perpetrator’s aim and the time of the offense,” he said.