A Turkish man has been jailed for life for attempting to rape a 20-year-old woman in a flat with his friend causing her to jump 10 storeys to her death.

The incident took place in the district of Basaksehir in the north-western Turkish city of Istanbul, on 21st March 2016.

The 20-year-old victim, Gulay Bursali, was with her boyfriend, identified only as E.O., when real estate agent Cihan Issi was showing them a flat for rent.

According to the newspaper Hurriyet, Issi also brought along another man called Mehmet Vural with him that day, and once inside the apartment the two men beat E.O and turned to Bursali to try to rape her.

Resisting the sexual assault, Gulay reportedly ran to the window and jumped out, falling 10 floors to her death.

After the incident, both defendants went missing.

Vural was caught and arrested three years later in March 2019, and has been held in custody since.

However, Issi still remains at large.

The trial against both of them got underway at the Bakirkoy 2nd High Criminal Court on 13th January.

Vural pleaded not guilty but was sentenced to life in prison for deliberate murder and another 41 years for sexual assault and deprivation of liberty.

Prosecutor Cem Atas said: “Some mistakes were made during the investigation which prolonged it and this allowed the defendant (Issi) to escape.

“We hope that the fugitive will be caught as soon as possible.

“We want the penalty to be as high as possible. We want justice to be served here.”