Turkish femicide suspect detained once again on suspicion of killing another woman

Turkish police have detained Ümitcan Uygun, suspected of murdering Aleyna Çakır last year, in relation to another femicide in Ankara.

Thursday August 05 2021 01:47 pm

Duvar English

Turkish police ob Aug. 5 detained Ümitcan Uygun, the prime suspect in the murder of Aleyna Çakır last year, in relation to another femicide.

Uygun was detained in Ankara after 25-year-old Esra Hankulu was found dead in the Mamak district.

Police determined that Uygun was the last person that Hankulu met with based on security camera footage and witness testimonies.

Uygun, an abusive man who enjoyed impunity for months after Çakır's murder despite sharing videos of himself beating the woman, continued hurling death threats on social media following her death, but no legal action was taken against him until he shared a video of himself using drugs in January.

He had been imprisoned for six months on drug charges, but was released last month.

Uygun last year addressed Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for help in the face of the backlash against him. His mother also died suspiciously, with Uygun claiming that it was a suicide.

Aleyna Çakır's death on June 3 of last year was also ruled a suicide despite her autopsy report revealing male DNA under her fingernails, bruises around her body and her cause of death as asphyxiation with a bathrobe belt.

Soon after Çakır's body was found, video footage that Uygun broadcast on social media showed him assaulting Çakır, who appeared unconscious on the floor.

It was also revealed that Çakır had reported Uygun's abuse to police after this incident, and that police had issued a one-month restraining order against the assailant who deleted the video after giving his testimony to police.

After Çakır's death, neighbors said that they often heard Uygun, a supporter of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), assaulting the young woman and that she could have been killed, but the suspect was once again released from police custody after giving a statement.

Early this year, DNA evidence collected from the body of Çakır matched that of Uygun.