About 15,000 people turned out in a large demonstration in southern Turkish city of Mersin on Wednesday, protesting the murder of a 20-year-old female university student last week.

Many university students, members of various civil society organizations and local residents attended the protest. The crowd shouted slogans against the perpetrators of Aslan Ozgecan's murder and the increasing number of violent incidents against women across Turkey.

Photos of Aslan appeared on billboards across Mersin. The question "Have you heard the screams of Ozgecan?" was written on the billboards, according to a report by Cihan news agency.

Aslan was killed and her body burned after she reportedly tried to resist a sexual assault. The murder has sparked public outrage, leading to mass demonstrations, especially by women, across Turkey over the past few days.

Minibus driver Ahmet Suphi Altindoken, his father Necmettin Altindoken and their alleged accomplice Fatih Gokce were placed under arrest by a Mersin court on Monday.

Turkish women across the country dressed in black on Monday to protest the murder of the university student. The outrage among the public continues over the death of Ozgecan Aslan. Since then the reactions haven't been ceased.

The Family and Social Policies Ministry is preparing to launch a new national action plan to fight violence against women, amid increasing public awareness of the issue.

"Action Plan on the Fight against Violence toward Women," which went into effect in 2012 and will come to an end on Dec. 31, 2015, is to be renewed by the ministry for the coming three years, and aims to boost powers of accountability and sanction.

Accordingly, a series of actions will be taken, including monitoring and evaluation meetings about the current plan and its results, taking into consideration reports from NGOs working on the topic and a parliamentary commission currently investigating violence against women.

Meetings with employees of 125 women's shelters will be conducted to absorb employees' questions and receive their feedback.

As part of the renewal of the plan, the number of women's shelters, initial acceptance branches, and Violence Monitoring and Prevention Centers is also set to be increased. A total of eight new institutions are planned to open this year. Enditem

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