Officials fired after death threats in girls’ dormitory in Turkey’s Karaman

KARAMAN

A dormitory manager and a provincial head of Credit and Dormitories Institution were discharged from duty on Nov. 14 after a prank hospitalized eight students in a girls’ dormitory in the Central Anatolian province of Karaman.

Hüseyin Paylan, manager of Nefise Sultan Girl’s Dormitory, and Enver Yazıbaşı, Karaman head of Credit and Dormitories Institution, were both ordered to leave their posts by the General Directorate of Higher Education Credit and Dormitories Institution.

The mysterious incident took place at 3:45 a.m. on Nov. 4 in the Nefise Sultan Girls’ State Dormitory, which hosts 1,400 students.

Several ambulances and policemen were dispatched to the scene when students suffered nervous breakdowns. Over the past two weeks they had been subject to death threats in the dormitory.

A total of eight students were taken to hospital because of the breakdowns.

A subsequent investigation deemed the abuse to be a “prank.”

Female students staying in the dormitory claimed a person dressed in black had entered their rooms and spoken to them in Arabic as they slept.

Some students said they found notes in their rooms with the words “it’s your turn, you will die” written on them. Others said their doors were marked.

Disciplinary proceedings were launched against three students following the incident.

The Karaman Governor’s Office issued a statement about the incident on its official website, announcing that no one was seen entering the dormitory during the two weeks except the students.

“It was determined that there was no one unfamiliar entering the dormitory’s building and the incident was caused by a prank that went too far by the students,” it stated.