Killers of Syrian pregnant woman and baby head to trial

SAKARYA – Anadolu Agency

A Turkish court has accepted an indictment seeking three times life imprisonment for two arrested men who are charged with murdering a nine-month pregnant Syrian woman and her 10-month-old baby in the northwestern province of Sakarya’s Kaynarca district among other crimes they perpetrated on July 6.

“Having inspected the incident, it’s apparent the suspects planned to rape Emani el-Rahmun, broke into her house, caused her to faint, and killed the victim’s baby once he cried,” the indictment stated.

The suspects, Birol Karacal and Celal Bay, also took a mobile phone by the bed as well as the necklace on el-Rahmun after causing the nine-month pregnant woman to faint, it added.

The two then took baby Khalaf’s body and the fainted woman to a forest and raped the mother there before taking her earrings, killing her and covering the bodies up with grass and soil, the 12-page indictment said.

The suspects were indicated to be the el-Rahmun family’s neighbors and were working in the same factory as Emani el-Rahmun’s husband Khalid el-Rahmun.

After having an argument with Khalid el-Rahmun at work, they left the factory and went to the family’s house, which they forcibly broke into, according to the testimonies the suspects gave on July 7.

The suspects who confessed to their crimes last week have told officials during their testimonies they also planned to kill the husband before they were caught, daily Milliyet reported on July 8.

They then delayed their plan until it got dark the following night, but police detained the two men the next day.

Both the husband and the Family and Social Policies Ministry are defendants in the case, which caused an outrage in Turkey.