Suspects in mystery death of woman in Ankara face life in prison

Prosecutors asked for aggravated life imprisonment for two suspects in the death of 23-year-old Şule Çet in the capital Ankara.

Çet fell to her death from the 20th floor office of one of the suspects. Her case prompted public outcry after the two suspects were released after their initial arrest. The suspects were Çağatay Aksu, Çet's boss, and his friend Berk Akand. Both men claimed Çet fell from the window on her own, pointing to suicide. The woman's family claimed she was thrown to her death, while media reports claimed she was likely thrown out of a window after she refused the sexual advances of her boss.

The two suspects were recently arrested again and the indictment charges the two men with "murder," "rape" and "restraining freedom of an individual."

An initial forensics report did not shed light on whether she was pushed to her death and whether she was sexually assaulted before her death.

A testimony by Akand says that the three went to Aksu's office after a night out together. Akand claimed he fell asleep in the office and was woken up by Aksu who told him that "Şule jumped out of the window." Aksu denied the allegations and claimed that the suspicious scratches on his arms were from him trying "to save" Çet. Police did not find fingerprints in the room and window where Çet fell to her death, but a lawyer for the victim's family claims the crime scene was likely "cleaned" and the woman was thrown out of window after she was killed.