ANKARA
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said he wanted a severe punishment for the killers of female student Ozgecan Aslan.
Ozgecan Aslan, 20, was killed and her body burnt after reportedly resisting a sexual assault in the southern city of Mersin on Friday.
"I will talk to the justice minister today and we will do our best so that these men get the heaviest punishment," he said during an address to the mukhtars -- heads of villages -- in Ankara, referring to suspected killers.
Nationwide demonstrations were held to protest the brutal murder, which especially garnered strong reactions from women's rights activists, asking for stricter laws to prevent violence against women.
Interrupted by a female mukhtar during his speech who asked how she would send her granddaughters to school after this incident, Erdogan replied: "No hesitation. We will crack down on it."
Erdogan also thanked the parents of Ozgecan for their "dignified" stance throughout the ordeal.
Three suspects have been arrested over the murder of the 20-year-old. She was allegedly killed by the driver of a bus she had taken to go home in which she was the last passenger.
The driver reportedly asked his father and a friend to help him dispose of the slain student's body.
