A brute who strangled a woman and set her house on fire has been sentenced to at least 30 years in prison by a Turkish court.
Condemned Ergin Akturk apparently killed victim Fatma Mavi to avoid paying her back the GBP 167 she had lent him.
The unlicensed taxi driver met his victim in Istanbul a month before the killing.
After frequently using his services, Fatma got to know Akturk to the point where she ended up lending him TRY 5,000 (GBP 167).
However, early on 1st November 2020, the pair argued on WhatsApp after Fatma, 31, realised she would never see the cash again.
The court heard how later that morning, Akturk went with Ali Ilkay Sari – whom he had met when they worked at a car park – to a petrol station.
There, Sari was caught on camera buying a canister of petrol. Afterwards, the pair went to Akturk’s house.
Akturk then went alone to Fatma’s house. There, he strangled her with his bare hands and, before leaving, set the house on fire.
The court heard how Fatma died from burns and smoke inhalation.
The Bakirkoy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office requested aggravated life imprisonment for Akturk for “intentional killing with monstrous feelings or torture”.
It requested the same punishment for Sari for “aiding and abetting intentional killing with monstrous feelings or torture”.
The prosecutors also requested additional prison terms for the pair for “damaging property”.
The defendants attended their trial at the Bakirkoy 13th Heavy Penal Court from prison via video link.
In the end, the court sentenced Akturk to aggravated life imprisonment and Sari to 15 years in prison, according to local media on 14th June.
Both were acquitted of “damaging property”.
In Turkey, the minimum non-parole term for an aggravated life prisoner is 30 years.
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 112 femicides have taken place in Turkey so far this year.