Retrial begins in high-profile case of forced child marriage

ISTANBUL

A high-profile case surrounding the forced marriage of a 6-year-old girl has taken a new twist as a retrial commenced on May 6, aiming for harsher sentences for the defendants involved.

The case, which has captured nationwide attention since its inception, centers on a woman identified only by the initials H.K.G., who alleged that her father, head of the İsmailağa Jamia-affiliated Hiranur Foundation, set up an imam marriage for her in 2004, when she was only 6.

Following the initial trial, which began on Jan. 30 last year, a decision was rendered later in the year, imposing a 30-year prison sentence on Kadir İstekli, a sect member who was married to the girl.

Furthermore, the victim's father, Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel, and mother, Fatıma Gümüşel, were sentenced to 20 years and 16 years and eight months in prison, respectively.

However, the criminal chamber of an Istanbul court reevaluated the verdict, noting that İstekli had been penalized for a single offense rather than facing separate charges for "qualified sexual abuse of a child" spanning from 2004 to 2013 and "qualified sexual assault against spouse" in 2020.

In light of this, the court deemed that the sentences for the victim's parents should be increased in accordance with the law "due to their roles as the mother and father." Consequently, the case was annulled in terms of both procedure and substance.

Following the reversal decision, defendants İstekli and Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel were transported from prison to attend the first hearing of the retrial. However, Fatıma Gümüşel, the mother, who has an outstanding arrest warrant, remains at large.

The hearing, scheduled for May 6, was adjourned due to the absence of the defendants' legal representatives. The proceedings are slated to resume on June 10.

The case has sparked widespread outrage, with social media platforms inundated with condemnatory posts following its coverage in local media outlets.

In her testimony, the victim revealed that her marriage to the sect member was portrayed to her as "child's play," and she endured years of sexual assault as a minor, something she just came to terms with as an adult.