Death of a Gabonese student in Turkey: a feminist collective calls for an independent investigation

2023-07-21T23:39:45.978Z

Highlights: Feminists call for an independent investigation into the death of a Gabonese student. Dina was found dead in a river in the city of Karabük on 26 March. An initial autopsy report had concluded that death had been by drowning. For now, the main suspect is a 55-year-old man incarcerated on April 10. The death is reminiscent of the deaths of hundreds of women every year in Turkey, say the feminists, who are demanding an investigation into Dina's death.

More than three months after the murder in Turkey of a Gabonese student, a feminist collective called this Friday in Istanbul for an independent and transparent investigation into the death of the young Dina.

Death of a Gabonese student in Turkey: a feminist collective calls for an independent investigation

A view of the city of Karabük (Illustration image). © Craig Pershouse/Getty Images

Text by: RFI Follow

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With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer

For the collective of Feminists for Dina, the fact that the death of Jeannah Danys Dinabongho Ibouanga is still considered a "suspicious death" and not a femicide, does not pass. He also denounces the way the investigation is being conducted because even the family's lawyer has only limited access to the file. According to feminists, all this is reminiscent of the fate of the hundreds of women murdered every year in Turkey.

Dina's death also illustrates, according to the collective, the rise of hostility against migrants, whether refugees, workers or students, as Dina was in mechanical engineering.

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These Turkish feminists are therefore demanding "the truth" and promising to follow this trial. For now, the main suspect is a 55-year-old man incarcerated on April 10. Thanks to surveillance cameras, police know that Dina, who was found dead on 26 March in a river in Karabük, left her home on the night of 25-26 March. She ran barefoot for several hundred meters before getting into the suspect's car. An initial autopsy report had concluded that death had been by drowning.

Many grey areas remain, as well as contradictions between several witnesses. One said he heard screams and saw people trying to hold Dina home before letting her out. Shortly before her death, Dina had called her mother to complain about the racism she said she was experiencing. She wanted to leave Karabük as soon as possible.

Death of a Gabonese student in Turkey: a feminist collective calls for an independent investigation

Death of a Gabonese student in Turkey: a feminist collective calls for an independent investigation

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