The incident came to public attention yesterday following reports by Turkish dailies, which claimed that the minors, ranging in age from 13 to 14, were recently arrested. But authorities, including Siirt Governor Necati Şentürk, said yesterday that the incident was not new and had taken place on April 14-15, 2009. Last April, a parent of 2-year-old E.S. went to the police station in Siirt’s Pervari district to report the toddler missing. Shortly afterward, the child was found near Serkani Creek, which is located close to a boarding school the nine suspects attended. The baby boy’s clothes were muddy and his body bruised. He was later found to have been raped.The following day, 3-year-old A.S., a cousin of E.S., was reported missing. A relative of the family said a girl who was about 14 years old had taken A.S. to a place near the creek. After a search, the 3-year-old baby was found dead near the creek. An autopsy revealed that A.S. was killed after being raped. Police then searched for the girl who took A.S. near the creek. The girl, identified as D.S., was a student at the boarding school and a cousin of the two babies. In her testimony, D.S. told the police that the eight rapists were her schoolmates and had blackmailed her after taking nude photos of her by force. Şentürk told the Anatolia news agency that the minors had been detained and that three of them were arrested while six others were placed in facilities run by the Siirt Provincial Social Services Directorate in April of last year. The children were sent to their homes in November and the arrested minors released pending trial on March 22, 2010.
