Turkish Court of Cassation seeks reduction of sentence for perpetrator in femicide case over 'lack of loyalty'

Duvar English

The Turkish Court of Cassation has sought a reduction of sentence for the perpetrator in a femicide case, citing the murdered woman's "lack of loyalty."

The court reversed a judgement on Lütfü Sefa Berberoğlu, who killed his wife Sedef Berberoğlu upon seeing her in a car with Abdullah Tekin and Okan Duran on Sept. 13, 2013 in the Aegean province of Muğla. While he also killed Tekin, Duran managed to escape.

The Muğla First Heavy Penal Court on Dec. 8, 2015 sentenced Lütfü Sefa Berberoğlu to aggravated life imprisonment for murdering his wife, to life imprisonment for killing Tekin and to 15 years in prison for attempting to kill Duran.

Berberoğlu's lawyer then took the case to the Court of Cassation over "unjust provocation," which then reversed judgement.

In its justified decision, the court cited the slain woman's "violation of the obligation of loyalty that's imposed on spouses by the Turkish Civil Code."

The decision to decrease his sentence was adopted unanimously.

The next hearing of the case will be held on Oct. 13.

Femicides and violence against women are grave problems in Turkey, where women get killed or beaten every single day.

Data shared by We Will Stop Femicides Platform reveals the extent of the problem, with at least 146 women killed in the first six months of 2020, 474 in 2019, 440 in 2018, 409 in 2017, 328 in 2016, 303 in 2015, 294 in 2014 and 237 in 2013.

While women continue to get killed on a daily basis, the sentences given to men are far from being deterrent. Women's rights groups say that the increasing violence against women cases stem from the government's policies of protecting men.

The most recent example to it is the government's willingness to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, which aims to combat violence against women.