A 25-year-old woman was found dead on Monday night at a “nightclub” in the village of Yerolakkos, Turkish Cypriot police confirmed on Tuesday.

The woman, who had officially been employed as a receptionist at the venue, was found dead in a room she lived in at the venue, with the police’s investigation into the matter ongoing.

The venue made headlines in December after multiple shots were fired at it. Two men were initially arrested after the incident, but both were released after the evidence against them proved inconclusive.

“Nightclubs” in the north have long been the subject of scrutiny regarding human trafficking, with the United States’ state department last year having written that the venues “act as brothels that commonly force women into sex trafficking”.

It had added that Turkish Cypriot representatives “did not permit women to change employers once under contract with a nightclub and routinely deported victims who voiced discontent about their treatment”, with the number of women deported reaching 805.

It made clear that “human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots”.

“Traffickers exploit women from central Asia, eastern Europe, and Africa in sex trafficking in nightclubs licenced and regulated by Turkish Cypriot representatives,” it added.

Such concerns had earlier been raised by the north’s human rights platform (IHP), which concluded in 2023 that the north “falls short” on implementing its obligations regarding the prevention of human trafficking.

The IHP criticised the attitude of the police in these situations, saying their stance “involved victim blaming and shaming.”

“The victims were subjected to inconvenient questions and were mostly considered not as victims but as women voluntarily engaging in prostitution,” they said.