Femicide suspect sentenced to 10 years in prison
Ümitcan Uygun, who is the main suspect in the murder of a woman called Aleyna Çakır, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for 'aggravated injury’ in the case of Esra Hankulu's death.
Duvar English
A Turkish court has sentenced Ümitcan Uygun to 10 years in prison over "aggravated injury" in the case of Esra Hankulu's death.
Uygun was detained in Ankara in August after the 25-year-old Esra Hankulu was found dead in the Mamak district.
Police determined that Uygun was the last person that Hankulu met with based on security camera footage and witness testimonies.
An indictment prepared by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said Uygun killed Hankulu, and that the other two defendants had tampered with the criminal evidence.
Uygun, who is the main suspect in the 2020 murder of Aleyna Çakır, wasn't arrested for the murder of Çakır despite overwhelming evidence.
Uygun, an abusive man, enjoyed impunity for months after Çakır's murder despite sharing videos of himself beating the woman and continued hurling death threats on social media following her death, but no legal action was taken against him until he shared a video of himself using drugs.
Uygun addressed Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for help in the face of the backlash against him. His mother also died suspiciously, with Uygun claiming that it was a suicide.
Çakır's death on June 3 last year was also ruled as a suicide despite an autopsy report revealing male DNA under her fingernails, bruises around her body and her cause of death as asphyxiation with a bathrobe belt.
Soon after Çakır's body was found, video footage that Uygun broadcast on social media showed him assaulting Çakır, who appeared unconscious on the floor.
It was also revealed that Çakır had reported Uygun's abuse to police after this incident, and that police had issued a one-month restraining order against the assailant who deleted the video after giving his testimony to police.
After Çakır's death, neighbors said that they often heard Uygun, a supporter of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), assaulting the young woman and that she could have been killed, but the suspect was once again released from police custody after giving a statement.
DNA evidence collected from the body of Çakır matched that of Uygun.