Turkish Cypriot woman murdered in her place of work in Lefkosia, two arrested for helping suspects escape

Turkish Cypriot police on Friday found the body of a woman in an office operating in Lefkcosia. 

The body of Ayça Alav, 45 was discovered at her place of work named HİT BİT, a crypto exchange company located on Mevlevi Tekke Street in the Lefkosia city center, at around 9:00pm on Friday, Dec., 22.

Ayça Alav is a resident of Girne.

Two people, F.L.D, 31, a Cameroonian and S.H, 31, a Pakistan national, were later identified and arrested in connection with the murder.

Police said they were found to have helped the murder suspects escape from the scene. They were taken to court on Saturday on charges of intentional murder and robbery.

Police who testified in court, said two suspects who are currently wanted killed Ayça Alav in her workplace and then robbed her of her money, both foreign currencies and TL. 

Police stated that the incident occurred at around 2:47pm on Friday, December 22. The two suspects from Cameroon tied the hands of Ayça Alav, the owner of the business, from behind with an antenna cable, wrapped duct tape around her, and stuffed her mouth with towel and covered her mouth with duct tape, resulting in her death.

Police said evidence from examined camera footage to identify the murder suspects showed that S.H came to pick up the suspects in his vehicle and took them to F.L.D's house, from there they took them to the area near the border and helped them escape to Southern Cyprus. 

Police stated that while the suspects were running away, they threw Alav's mobile phone into an empty box in the parking lot of a market on the road.

Emphasizing that the investigation is continuing, the police said that statements will be taken and cameras in the area will be examined and requested that the suspects be detained for 3 days within the scope of the investigation. 

Emerging reports claimed that Alav's family became suspicious and reported the matter to the police when she could not pick up her child from school.

The police, who checked Alav's workplaces, found Alav's lifeless body with her hands and feet tied with cables and her mouth covered with duct tape. Her phone was found in a supermarket in Minareliköy.

The TRNC government said it has initiated an initiative for their extradition back to north Cyprus.