A man accused of raping and stabbing his ex’s 15-year-old schoolgirl daughter to death before setting her bed on fire when her mother dumped him has been jailed for life.
Defendant Taner Yaylaci reportedly stabbed Victim Busra Kabatas 25 times and then set fire to her body after her mother broke up with him.
The victim’s charred remains were found under a quilt in her bedroom after neighbours in Gebze, Turkey, spotted smoke and raised the alarm on 8th October 2022.
But Yaylaci claimed that he had fallen on her and accidentally plunged the blade into her throat, claiming that the other 24 stab wounds were caused by someone else.
He was unable to explain how his computer had been used to search terms like “rape resulting in death”, “how to rape a 15-year-old child”, “rape after unconsciousness”, “how to knock a person unconscious with an electroshock gun”, “Forensic medicine practices after sexual abuse of a child”, and “autopsy results after burning a person alive”.
He had also Googled “punishment for rape”, and “how many days would it take for the autopsy report to come out”.
Explaining to the jury about the injury he admitted to causing, he said: “I lost my balance and fell on her.”
He added that the “knife in my hand plunged into her throat.”
The schoolgirl had been raped, strangled, dumped on her bed, stabbed 25 times, covered with a duvet, and set on fire.
Police swiftly identified Yaylaci, who had been pestering Busra’s mother, his ex-girlfriend, after she broke up with him.
They believe he was obsessed with Aylin Cetin, whom he had met at the factory they both worked at before he was sacked from his job.
During questioning, he admitted that he had been waiting on Aylin’s street for two days to watch her movements.
The police said he had intended to kill his ex but had found her daughter at home instead as she got ready to leave for school.
Yaylaci told the court in Kocaeli: “There are 25 knife wounds on the victim, but 24 of them are not mine.
“I only caused one knife wound. I did not burn Busra, and I did not sexually abuse her.”
When quizzed about his alleged internet searches, Yaylaci replied: “I don’t agree with any of these claims.”
Cemal Tinarlioglu, representing Busra’s family, told local media: “In my 30 years of legal practice, this is one of the most savage murders I have ever seen.”
Yaylaci was given an aggravated life sentence without any possible reduction.
Femicide is a growing problem in Turkey, particularly after the country officially quit the Istanbul Convention in July 2021.
According to data from the ‘Monument Counter’, which is “a digital memorial for women killed by violence” and is updated daily, 393 women were killed by men in 2022, while 357 femicides have taken place in Turkey so far this year.
A life sentence in Turkey is 24 years in prison, whereas an aggravated life sentence is what was introduced to replace the death penalty. Prisoners sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment can be paroled after serving at least 30 years, or 36 years if given more than one sentence.
