Sexual assault on Istanbul bus puts man in prison for 2 years


A man who sexually assaulted a woman on an Istanbul bus will get two years of imprisonment, unless the sentence is changed by Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals, reported the daily Vatan. The incident reportedly occurred in the mega-city's Üsküdar district. Songül O. was reportedly sexually assaulted by Erdem Ş. standing next to her, after which she started to hit the man and scream. The incident was eventually taken to court, for which the defendant was sentenced with two years of imprisonment.Erdem Ş. denied the accusations but the court found Songül O.'s allegation convincing since she was adamant and consistent with her claim, taking into consideration every possible negation she could have faced. Also, the court said an eyewitness was not necessary in the case, since the incident of 'simple sexual assault' concerned only two relevant people and in every case an eyewitness might not be present. The court decided that since Erdem Ş. did not show any actions of being 'sorry' for his crime, discretionary measures and mitigating would not be applied, and the announcement of the verdict would not be deferred. In this case, if the defendant's sentence is approved by the Supreme Court of Appeals, then he will serve two years in prison for his actions.