Nation in anger once again after brutal femicide

GİRESUN

The murder of a teenage girl who was stabbed to death by a man in Turkey’s north has triggered a new nationwide wave of anger, while the problem in the country remains rampant and the femicide tally keeps increasing.

Sıla Şentürk, a 16-year-old living in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Giresun, was killed by 21-year-old Hüseyin Can Göçek, to whom the young girl had allegedly been engaged by the will of her parents even though she was below the legal age of marriage of 18.

According to Demirören News Agency, Gökçek abducted the young girl last year and was arrested on charges of the “sexual abuse of a minor” and the “abduction and detention of a minor” following the Şentürk family’s complaint.

However, he was released pending trial in the last months of 2021 after the Şentürk family withdrew their complaint.

On Feb. 16, Gökçek knocked on her door and slit Şentürk’s throat after an alleged argument.

The young girl collapsed to the ground and died of blood loss as the man fled the scene immediately. He was later apprehended by the police near an airport as he was about to fly out of the province.

While Gökçek did not testify to the police by exercising his right to remain silent, it was revealed that he had 10 criminal records, including injuring.

Many individuals and organizations, including officials, politicians, figures from Turkey’s entertainment world, athletes and sports clubs, published statements regarding the incident, condemning the murder and other femicides.