The elderly couple was tortured by binding their hands and feet for 600 lira.

Bekir (69) and Nejla Genç (55), who are farmers in the rural Gökçeyaka neighborhood of the Çameli district in Denizli, experienced horror on November 26.

THEY BOUND THEIR HANDS AND FEET AND THREATENED WITH DEATH

Three masked and armed individuals arrived at the couple's home around 7:00 PM, binding the couple's hands, feet, and mouths with packing tape. The suspects, who attempted to suffocate them by covering their mouths and noses with towels and threatened them with a gun, asked about the location of money and valuables in the house.

THEY ESCAPED WITH THE LIE OF "A GUEST WILL COME"

When Bekir Genç said that a guest would come to their house, the suspects panicked and fled after stealing 600 lira, two shotguns, and mobile phones. Bekir Genç crawled to his wife and freed her by tearing the packing tape with his nails. Upon receiving a tip from neighbors, health and gendarmerie teams were dispatched to the scene.

THEY WERE CAUGHT IN THEIR SLEEP

The Gendarmerie Crime Investigation Team (JASAT) of the Denizli Provincial Gendarmerie Command and the Çameli District Gendarmerie Command identified the license plate of the vehicle used by the suspects from security cameras. The teams determined that Enes Kağan Özdemir (25), his brother Zikri Özdemir (30), and Ahmet Kaban (40) were hiding in an apartment in Fethiye, Muğla.

JASAT teams conducted an operation at the identified address during the night. During the search of the apartment, the money, shotguns, and phones stolen by the suspects were seized. The three suspects were arrested after being caught in their sleep. Security camera footage from the apartment showed the suspects hiding the stolen shotguns in their jackets as they entered the room.

THEY HAD RECONNOITERED A DAY EARLIER

Investigations by the teams revealed that one of the suspects, Enes Kağan Özdemir, had previously worked in the same field as Bekir Genç. It was determined that Özdemir had scouted the area around the house a day before the incident and had called Bekir Genç to say he had rented an apartment in Fethiye, using it as a pretext to approach him.

“THEY TRIED TO SUFFOCATE ME WITH A TOWEL AND TORTURED ME”

Describing the terrifying moments he experienced, Bekir Genç said that when his wife went to open the door, he looked and saw three people covering her mouth and binding her hands. He stated that when they saw him, they jumped on him and covered his mouth. "They bound my hands, feet, and mouth and laid me on the sofa. One pressed his feet on my chest, pointed a gun at my forehead, and asked where the gold and money were. They tried to suffocate me with a towel, torturing me by leaving me breathless. Occasionally, they pulled the towel away and asked where the gold and money were, assuring me they wouldn't harm me. My wife and I said there was no gold or money; but they didn't believe us. They ransacked the rooms. They later brought my wife to me," he said.

“I THOUGHT THEY WOULD KILL US”

Bekir Genç expressed that he came up with an idea to escape from the attackers, saying, "I told the ones who were binding us and torturing us that a guest would come to the house and that we were already late. They panicked, took our phones, and fled. I got off the sofa they had laid me on and went to my wife. At first, I couldn't free my bound hands. I first tore the packing tape from my wife's hands with my nails. She then cut the packing tape binding my hands and feet with scissors and freed me. When I came out after them, I saw them fleeing in a car from a distance. I asked a neighbor for help. The gendarmerie had caught all of them, and one of the perpetrators turned out to be someone I worked with. I thought they would kill us," he said.

“I LOST CONTROL. MY HANDS AND FEET TREMBLED”

Nejla Genç, recounting the horrifying moments, said, "I was very scared; I thought they would kill us. I lost control. My hands and feet trembled. They took me to the room and asked where the gold and money were. Despite our insistence that there was no gold or money in the house, they didn't believe us. They said they would kill us if they found any. One of the perpetrators had worked with my husband in the field; I don't know him. They were wearing masks. After the incident, the commander called and said they had been caught. May no harm come to the gendarmerie's feet. The perpetrators are young. They ruined their lives," she said.