Suspect in secret affair with his mother-in-law gets lighter sentence in murder case

Mesut Hasan Benli - ANKARA

A Turkish man who was accused of killing the brother of his mother-in-law while having a secret affair with her has received a more lenient sentence with the latest court ruling. 

According to court documents, the suspect, identified as Serdar İ., started to have a relationship with his mother-in-law, Yeter B., who had lost her husband only two months before.

The woman’s son discovered his mother’s Facebook messages to the man and questioned the relationship that came so soon after his own father’s death.

Taking his uncle with him, the son then assaulted Serdar İ. with knives while he was washing his car in front of his house. The uncle was killed when Serdar İ. shot him with a pistol, while the others were wounded in the ensuing clash.

The 7th Heavy Penal Court in Ankara had initially sentenced Serdar İ. to life in prison for premeditated murder, while also fining the woman’s son for injuring someone intentionally.

Hürriyet has learned that the murder suspect was later given a lighter sentence. Serdar İ.’s jail sentence was reduced to 15 years because it was “committed under unfair provocation” caused by the assault he faced, the ruling said.

According to the ruling, “the mother-in-law had no responsibility or liability toward her son regarding her life and behaviors. She only had a responsibility toward her husband during their marriage, which ended when the man died. Her willful relationship with the suspect may be considered against ethics, but it is not against the law.”

With this judgment, the court concluded that the son could not be acquitted for the assault by citing “unfair provocation” due to his mother’s secret affair.