Imam of illegal madrassa where 12-year-old found dead released from detention

Turkish authorities have released the imam of an illegal madrassa in Şanlıurfa province after a 12-year-old child was found hanged at a barn near the Islamic education facility.

Saturday June 17 2023 03:29 pm

Duvar English

Turkish authorities released the imam associated with an illegal madrassa in Şanlıurfa province who has been detained following the discovery of the dead body of 12-year-old Abdülbaki Badak who had been forcibly sent to the institution, according to online news outlet T24. The detained imam was released after the prosecutor's office took his statement.

A madrassa is an educational institution, typically in Islamic countries, where religious teachings and Islamic studies are conducted by cults. Even though these types of institutions have been closed 100 years ago in Turkey, the current government has been allowing Islamic cults to act freely around the country.

Dadak went missing on June 10 and was found dead one day later hanged at a barn next to a madrasa belonging to the Menzil cult to which his family had been forced to send him. In the first report issued by the forensic medicine institution, the incident was recorded as suicide.

Menzil is a radical Islamic cult that has been growing significantly in the last decade through its increasing affiliations with state institutions.

Şanlıurfa Governorate initiated a judicial and administrative investigation into the allegations that Dadak had been attending a religious education course for one year despite not wanting to go to the course. Within the scope of the investigation, the course was closed down, and the so-called imam in charge of the students was detained. Witnesses stated that Dadak was forced to attend the course by his family and that he ran away and returned home twice within a year but was taken back to the course by his family.

The family did not file a criminal complaint yet, Şanlıurfa Bar Association filed a petition to Şanlıurfa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to file a criminal complaint regarding the death of the child.

In the recent years, several students staying in institutions belonging the radical Islamic cults have committed suicide or found dead after they expressed the oppression they have been experiencing.