48 years in jail sought for bus drivers who ‘raped hearing-impaired woman’ in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

An Istanbul prosecutor has demanded 27 and 21 years for two intercity bus drivers over charges of raping a hearing impaired young woman and deprivation of liberty, Habertürk reported on Feb. 23.

The 20-year-old woman, who has 40-percent hearing loss, was sexually assaulted by one bus driver, while the other driver prevented her from leaving the bus in the Bayrampaşa district of Istanbul in December 2016.

In the trial, the prosecutor demanded 27 years for the driver who was accused of raping her, and 21 years for the other driver, who was accused of taking part in the sexual assault.

The two drivers, who are 45- and 37-years-old, allegedly saw the young woman on a roadside, and told her they could take her to the metro.

After she got on the bus, one of the drivers sexually assaulted the young woman, and hit her head with a vacuum bottle when she resisted.

Meanwhile, the other driver locked the doors, preventing her from leaving the bus, and laughed at them.

After the incident, the young woman immediately notified a security official in the metro and said she was raped.

In her testimony, she also claimed that the suspects stole 400 Turkish Liras from her bag.

“I trusted them when they said they could take me to Beşiktaş. After I got on the bus, one of the drivers attacked me, hit my head with a bottle and raped me,” she said.

“He said ‘I’ll kill you if you scream.’ Meanwhile, the other driver was laughing at us,” she added.