A Turkish court has acquitted former noncommissioned officer Musa Orhan of a charge of driving 18-year-old İpek Er, whom he was convicted of sexually assaulting, to suicide in 2020, the Evrensel daily reported.
The Batman 1st Criminal Court of First Instance issued the verdict on October 22, citing insufficient evidence, despite the prosecutor’s request for conviction.
Er left a letter describing the sexual assault. At a hearing in May 2025 a doctor who provided emergency care to Er after she tried to take her own life testified that Er had said she did so because Orhan raped her. Er’s parents also testified that Orhan had threatened their daughter and other family members. Her mother said Er told her Orhan threatened her with a gun and nude photographs, while Er wrote in her letter that he had threatened to kill her if she revealed the sexual assault.
Er had filed a criminal complaint against Orhan on July 7, 2020, accusing him of sexual assault. She tried to take her own life nine days later and died in a hospital on August 18, 2020.
Orhan was briefly jailed pending trial after Er’s death but was released after his lawyer challenged the detention order. His release prompted protests by women’s rights groups demanding his arrest and prosecution. The Gendarmerie General Command dismissed him on August 31, 2020.
The Siirt 1st High Criminal Court sentenced Orhan to 10 years in prison for aggravated sexual assault in December 2021, reducing an initial 12-year sentence at its discretion. Despite the conviction, the court rejected a request to jail him and allowed him to remain free under judicial supervision pending appeal.
The Diyarbakır Regional Court of Justice’s 7th Criminal Chamber upheld the sentence in March 2022 and maintained the judicial supervision. Lawyers for Er’s family then appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Orhan also took legal action against several women who criticized him. Actress Ezgi Mola was convicted of insulting him and fined in 2021 over a social media post criticizing his release. Singer Melek Mosso was prosecuted in 2023 for allegedly insulting him, while actress Farah Zeynep Abdullah received a suspended sentence on similar charges in 2024.
Under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code, insulting another person with the intention of harming their honor, dignity or reputation is a criminal offense punishable by up to two years in prison or a judicial fine.
According to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, at least 294 women were murdered by men in 2025.
Women’s rights groups have criticized the government for failing to protect women and hold perpetrators accountable. The criticism intensified after Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention in 2021, a Council of Europe treaty aimed at preventing and combating violence against women.
