A Turkish man who never went to jail despite being convicted of harassing a young woman for years has now shot and killed a young mum that he became obsessed with.
Former teacher Erdogan Kupeli, 46, who worked as a newspaper delivery man, turned up at the market where his new victim, Tugba Keles, 35, was working and shot her dead.
The bullet hit her in the head, and he then turned the gun on himself.
The killing happened in the district of Tufanpasa in the city of Kozan in the Turkish province of Adana at around 11am on Thursday (1 October).
And it caused outrage after it was revealed that he had actually been convicted and eventually jailed for harassing and threatening another young woman, Guay Mubarak, 29, but was later released on appeal.
Once out of prison he then set his sights on Tugba.
News of the killing shocked his previous victim, who tweeted that she wished Tugba could have survived so the could have met and “healed together”.
She wrote on Twitter: “They gave this man 8 years and 6 months for what he did, but in the end, he was never jailed. Encouraged by this, he shot Tugba Keles, who he harassed and threatened for a long time. He shot himself too, and all I can say is I hope you die, Erdogan Kupeli.”
He had met Tugba on Facebook in 2015, and refuse to accept that she was not interested in a relationship. She said that he made her life hell for four years, eventually resulting in a jail sentence of two years for insult, three years for making threats and two years for illegally hacking her personal data.
But in the end, the sentence was cancelled as he was released under judicial control.
After being released he got the job delivering local newspapers to various businesses and shops, and after dropping off a delivery at the market had then shot his latest victim.
There have been no further updates on the suspected killer’s condition.
There have been a number of high-profile killings of women by men who regard them as property and refuse to accept that they have independence.
It comes at a time that Turkey is considering leaving the Istanbul Convention designed to prevent violence against women and combat domestic violence.
Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy chair Numan Kurtulmus said earlier: “I am saying as a person, who has read the Istanbul Convention repeatedly, has also read this in English and worked on it. The signing of the Istanbul Convention was really wrong.
He added: “When our people have such an expectation, we cannot stay indifferent to this. As we have duly signed it, then it would be possible to duly withdraw from it.”