A new witness has come forward in the investigation into the suspicious death of 19‑year‑old university student Rojin Kabaiş in Van, eastern Turkey, potentially opening a new line of inquiry more than a year after her body was found. Kabaiş disappeared on 27 September 2024 and was discovered dead 18 days later on the shore of Lake Van.
According to Turkish news outlet T24, a fresh testimony was submitted to prosecutors after the Forensic Medicine Institute reported that DNA from two unidentified men had been detected on Kabaiş’s body. The new witness, who lives in Manisa, said he decided to speak out only after reading media coverage of the forensic report and realizing it matched what he claims to have seen.
The man told prosecutors that on the evening of 27 September 2024, while returning to his guesthouse in Van with his wife, he saw a young woman resembling Kabaiş on the street. He described a man about 1.70 metres tall grabbing the young woman by the arm and saying, “Walk, we’re going.” According to his statement, the woman replied, “Does my father know?” and the man answered, “He does,” before leading her towards a waiting car.
The witness said a second young man was sitting inside the vehicle and that the woman was made to get into the car with them, after which they drove away. He told prosecutors that the presence of two men in the incident immediately came back to him after he saw reports that two male DNA profiles had been identified on Kabaiş’s body.
Kabaiş was a student in the Child Development Department of the Education Faculty at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University. Her death, initially reported as a suspicious case, remains unresolved, and prosecutors are now expected to deepen the investigation based on the new testimony, re‑examining the profiles of potential suspects and the vehicle described by the witness.
Photo: Manus AI