‘Man who stabbed ex-wife 39 times and tried to set her alight is schizophrenic’
A MAN who stabbed his ex-“wife” 39 times and then used 1.5 litres of petrol to set her on fire last year “suffers from schizophrenia”, his defence lawyer claimed this week.
Suat Aşır, from Ankara, Turkey, had admitted killing Gamze Pehlivan, 37, outside the Cyprus International University campus near Haspolat on April 20, 2017.
He had said at a previous hearing that he had taken the life of Ms Pehlivan — who he had “married” in a religious ceremony not recognised by the state — because he believed she had been cheating on him.
Mr Aşır had claimed that he had been “provoked” into carrying out the the crime by another person who “kept calling him” and that he was “very sorry” for what he had done. At a hearing at Lefkoşa Assizes Court on Wednesday, senior prosecutor Ahmet Varol said that the defendant had undergone a mental health assessment the previous week by a doctor at a psychiatric hospital in the capital.
The doctor’s report was still being prepared, Mr Varol added. Mr Aşır faces charges of premeditated murder, abduction by force, threat to use violence and illegal possession of a knife. The trial was adjourned to a later date.