Neighbors save child found in deplorable conditions

KONYA

Neighbors rescue a one-and-a-half-year-old girl from a house in deplorable conditions in the Central Anatolian province of Konya, as the Family and Social Services Ministry has announced that the child will be taken under protection.

The incident occurred on March 26 at the Manolya Apartment Building in the central Selçuklu district. Apartment residents heard the cries of a child from the terrace floor where Fatma G. lived as a tenant. Some residents, including Fatma G.’s landlord, managed to get onto the terrace from the empty apartment next door.

The neighbors who jumped over the wall of the terrace and entered Fatma G.’s house through the balcony door were shocked by what they saw.

Fatma G.’s daughter, Asel, was found lying exhausted on the floor of the house filled with garbage.

The neighbors fed the little child and informed the police. Asel was rushed to Konya City Hospital by ambulance.

Police detained Fatma G. within the scope of the investigation initiated by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

In her initial statement, Fatma G. claimed she was dealing with family affairs and went outside for a walk when the neighbors broke into her house.

Fatma G. was released after her statement to accompany her daughter, who is receiving treatment at the hospital.

The mother is expected to be sentenced to up to a year for “violation of the obligation arising from family law” within the scope of the investigation launched against her.

It was stated that Asel is in good health and will be placed in a children’s home upon the instruction of the prosecutor’s office.

Another similar incident in the western province of Bursa, where a woman was arrested for allegedly abducting and keeping her nephew in a locked room full of garbage, was on Türkiye’s agenda for days last summer.