Family of woman who 'committed suicide' file murder complaint in eastern Turkey

Duvar English

Turkish man arrested over stabbing wife beats daughter to death upon being released

The family of a woman who was claimed to have committed suicide filed a murder complaint, saying that she was killed by her husband's parents.

Ceylan Akpolat, 25, allegedly committed suicide four days after complaining about his in-laws' violence in the Hamur district of the eastern province of Ağrı.

Her mother Zozan Kaya and brother Kasım Kaya, however, said that she didn't kill herself, but was murdered.

"Ceylan's in-laws were beating her when her husband was away, so she filed a complaint three years ago. We then took her back to our home and didn't let her go back to her husband. She wanted to return to not keep her children motherless," Kasım Kaya told Mesopotamia News Agency, adding that his sister didn't have major problems with her husband, Fecri Akpolat.

"Akpolat's parents killed my sister," he added.

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Kaya said that Ceylan Akpolat was subjected to the same couple's violence once again a year later.

"My father brought my sister to our home and she stayed with us for three months. She had to go back for her children once again. This continued systematically," he said, adding that Akpolat managed to escape from them to go to gendarmarie headquarters in the most recent incident.

"The doctors gave her a report proving that she was beaten. Fecri Akpolat's family was also sentenced to pay 3,000 Turkish Liras. This is where the state made a mistake. She should've been given protection," he said, adding that his sister died four days after the incident.

According to Kaya, there were three different rope marks on his sister's neck, adding that it was done to make it seem like a suicide.

"If you didn't kill someone, you wouldn't take a dead body to a hospital and run away," he said.

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Zozan Kaya made similar remarks, saying that her daughter had bruises all over her body.

"Our only wish is for this incident to not be covered up. We want justice for my daughter. No one can be tortured like this," Kaya said.

Violence against women is in grave levels in Turkey, with hundreds of women either getting beaten or killed by men each year, with some of them dying despite requesting state protection.