A thug who kicked a nurse in the face after saying she had 'no right to live' because she was wearing shorts during Ramadan has been jailed for three years in Turkey.

Security guard Abdullah Cakiroglu was caught on CCTV kicking Aysegul Terzi, 24, on a bus in Istanbul.

He screamed 'those who wear shorts must die' before the vicious assault in September last year.

Security guard Abdullah Cakiroglu was caught on CCTV kicking Aysegul Terzi, 24, on a bus in Istanbul

Cakiroglu was today jailed for three years and 10 months for 'preventing the practice of freedom of faith, thought and opinion' and deliberately causing injury.

His victim told Turkish TV: 'I am often crying, I often find myself angry, I am often feeling like someone is about to attack me.'

The thug attacked 24-year-old Ayşegül Terzi (pictured), who works as a nurse

At the time, Cakiroglu admitted to local media the assault 'was not right' and said he was suffering from a mental illness, having previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

The incident galvanised public opinion in Turkey, which is officially a secular country, prompting street protests with the slogan: 'Do not touch my shorts!'

Protesters said they were showing solidarity with Miss Terzi.

Saadet Yesil, a 44-year-old accountant at a protest last year, said everyone had a right to dress as they saw fit.

'Just as we don't interfere with those in headscarves or gentlemen in turbans, we expect they extend us the same courtesy,' she said.

She also accused Turkey's prime minister, Binali Yildirim of the Islamist AKP, of attempting to downplay the attack.

Akin Ozcan Aksoy, a 21-year-old student, said 'the direction our country is headed makes me think we will encounter more of these stories'.