Middle-school girls sexually assaulted for 1.5 years on Istanbul's Kınalıada

Three middle-school girls, including two siblings, have been subjected to sexual abuse on Istanbul's Kınalıada island for the last one-and-a-half years, but could not relate the incident to anyone as they were being threatened and blackmailed.

The issue surfaced on May 8 after one of the teachers witnessed the girls fighting at the school and heard them talking about rape to one another.

The teacher, who is also a counselor at the school, then reported the incident to authorities, after which the girls provided testimony in the presence of psychologists. 

The three girls' statements revealed that two of the rape suspects were working as bicycle dealers, while one was a hardware man on the island. All the suspects are between the ages of 28 and 30. 

The girls told authorities that the suspects had recorded their naked images, threatening to share them on social media if they ever told anyone about the sexual abuse.

The police consequently searched the suspects' houses and seized various digital materials for further analysis. 

Following their testimonies, the three girls, aged between 13 and 15, were referred to a children's home in Istanbul's Bakırköy district for psychological support. 

Residents of the island expressed fury about the incident, telling Hürriyet that they wanted the suspects to receive the severest punishment.

"We were all a family on our little island. We used to keep our doors open," one said.

"They [the suspects] were all married men whom we knew and trusted. My daughter D. is 13 years old. They threatened and blackmailed her. She hid this incident from us…She will get a psychological support. There is no going back from this incident. Everyone [responsible] will pay...