Who Killed Ayşegül Aydın?

Resisted The Rapist But Could Not Escape Her Murderer

Aysegül (16) was from Pelitli, a small town that is located on the off skirts of industrialised city of Gebze (Marmara Region). She was studying very hard to guarantee herself a place in one of the prestigious schools of the country. To that end, she was attending the afternoon classes in a private college in Gebze that prepared young students for their university entrance exam.

On 12 July 2021, Aysegül was on her way back home from the college. As usual, she had used the public transport to get back home. However, that day soon after she stepped out of the bus, she rang her brother in panic and asked him to give her a lift from where she was. Her brother was not available to answer his phone due to his work and he only picked up her message hours later. 

Ayşegül's journey back home. The region is scattered with thick woods and bushes. 

After some time, Mohammed A, a 20 year old Afghan national, asked for help from the workers of a local factory that was couple of hundreds away from the scene. He told the busy pallet workers that he saw an injured girl on the side of the road near the woods. When some pallet workers arrived for her help, they were unable to identify the girl due to the injuries she sustained to her head. 

When Ayşegül's brother arrived at the scene he was horrified to see her young sister unconscious on the edge of the woods. Esat, young Ayşegül's brother, told the police that he was not expecting a phone call from her sister that day. Esat also told the police that her sister had epileptic-like seizures in the past when she was little.

Mohammed A, told the locals and the police at the scene that he saw Ayşegül fall on the side of the road and he was only trying to help the injured girl. Since Ayşegül was unable to talk, the police did not bother questioning Mohammed.

Ayşegül was taken to the emergency care unit of a hospital in Gebze, where her condition did not improve. On 23 July 2021 Ayşegül was transferred to a better equipped hospital (Marmara Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastahanesi) in Istanbul. Her doctors told her family that parts of her brain was unresponsive and the treatment required expensive stem-cell therapy. Ayşegül's family, who couldn't afford such an expensive therapy, asked for help from the Ministry of Health but to no avail.  

Ayşegül with her father, couple of weeks before the attack.

Days later, the CCTV footages revealed that Mohammed A, had left the public transport at the same time with Ayşegül. 

The Afghan national (20) stalked the young girl (16) all the way from Gebze. The young girl tried to avoid her stalker in panic. But Mohammed caught up with the young girl and dragged her into the woods. When the young girl resisted the rape, Mohammed tried to suffocate his victim. When Mohammed couldn't accomplish his despicable act, he grabbed a stone and bashed her head several times until Ayşegül became completely unconscious. It is believed that Ayşegül was raped shortly after this horrific attack.

Mohammed A is still awaiting a trial whilst the details of his prelim (14 July 2022) remain undisclosed. He was allegedly found guilty of sexual assault, deprivation of liberty and bodily grievous harm at his first hearing. However, nobody knows whether he will face a long term jail sentence, or deported back to his country. It is very likely that under the current system where such predators are often pardoned within a year or two, he will be released back into the Turkish society. To date, the court never shared Mohammed's full name and his clear image with the media and victim's family.

On 17 July 2021 the locals from Ayşegül's town protested the government for failing to protect county's borders and provide safety for its own people. When Ayşegül's story drew the public's attention, her father told the (uninterested and state-controlled) press that he was offered hush money (by the government) to be quiet about her daughter's attacker. Later, Mr Aydın told the social media users, and a few small but relatively liberal press that the current president Erdogan, whom he was a supporter of for the last 15 years, was responsible for the death of his daughter: "Dear Erdogan, you and your children are perfectly safe. But we are enslaved by the refugees."

Ayşegül stayed at the intensive care unit of hospital for 134 days and died from her brain injuries on 22 Nov 2021.

Questions regarding the country's border and nationality policies, which are heavily manipulated by the EU, UK and USA remain a hot topic in the country.

Source: Wikipedia and several newspapers.