Sexual abuse suspect escapes attempted lynching in Istanbul

Istanbul, May 23 (DHA) - A sexual abuse suspect narrowly escaped a lynch attempt by residents of a neighborhood in the Fatih district of Istanbul on Monday, after he was taken out of an Internet cafe where he was accused of abusing a 10-year-old girl.

The incident occurred after the 26-year-old suspect, identified only by his initials Y.K., a customer at the Internet cafe, approached the 10-year-old girl, who was also a customer, saying he wanted to “help her.”

After seeing that Y.K.’s actions toward the girl were abusive, witnesses called the police and some of them attacked the suspect. Arriving at the scene, police detained Y.K., but as they were leaving the cafe the man was faced with a crowd attempting to attack him.

As the angry crowd grew, police called on additional teams to intervene and disperse the group in order to exit the cafe and detain Y.K. Arriving at the scene with an armored vehicle, additional police teams also failed to calm the crowd, which was throwing chairs and other objects at Y.K.

Police resorted to tear gas and plastic bullets to push the crowd back, and Y.K. was eventually taken out of the cafe and driven to a nearby police station.�

After his interrogation, Y.K. was sent to an Istanbul courthouse. Denying the charges, he was released by the court with a judicial control decision pending investigation.