It has been revealed that no charges will be pressed against the 34 people, who allegedly raped 17-year-old N.Y. in the Bahcesaray district of Van. Among the 34 people, are relatives of the Justice and Development Party Deputy Gulsen Orhan.
Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin stated that no evidence was found as a result of an investigation, which was carried out upon N.Y.'s complaint. He said that the file has been closed. According to Ergin, the investigation was about four of the suspects.
70 people's names were involved, only 4 were subjected to a DNA test
N.Y. had been raped by tens of people when her family was working for the father of Deputy Gulsen Orhan. Orhan's father was also the mayor of Bahcesaray at the time. When it became clear that 17 year-old N.Y. was pregnant, her family was fired. N.Y. had asked for protection from the Van Police Department.
On N.Y.'s application, an investigation was carried out. In her first deposition, N.Y. had given the names of 70 people, who allegedly raped her. But in the investigation file, there only were 34 names. Moreover, only four of those were subjected to a DNA test. None of those four were the relatives of Orhan.
According to newspaper reports of the time, none of the DNA samples of the four people matched that of the baby, and so the suspects were released.
She had asked for Nimet Cubukcu' and Mehmet Ali Sahin's help
In the meantime, N.Y. had sent petitions to the State Minister Responsible for Women and Family of the time Nimet Cubukcu and Justice Minister of the time Mehmet Ali Sahin. She did not receive any responses. According to a local news report, N.Y. in her petition, had stated that the incident is being covered up and that her family's life is in danger.
She said she was receiving death threats
In another interview with a local journalist, N.Y. stated that she was initially offered money to decline the allegations, and later she received death threats. Separately N.Y.'s family had stated that a lawyer working for AKP Van Deputy Orhan had contacted them. (BB)
