Syrian refugee finds abused three-year-old at Gaziantep railway station

GAZİANTEP – Doğan News Agency

Forensics teams investigate the area where the missing girl was found. DHA Photo

A Syrian refugee has found a missing three-year-old girl at the railway station of the southeastern city of Gaziantep, delivering her to the police in the early hours of Jan. 6.

Medical examinations show the girl had been sexually abused and beaten, with cuts across her body. However, doctors say her condition was not life-threatening.

The girl, only identified as İ.K., went missing from the school where her parents worked in the cafeteria. According to the initial investigation, she was captured on the school’s surveillance cameras while walking with the suspect, who appears to be around 18-20 years-old. İ.K. was eventually seen walking on the railway track near the station by a Syrian citizen.

Police added they believed the suspect could be a drug addict and a search has been launched for his capture.

“She suddenly disappeared. We searched everywhere for her and only after being unable to find her, only then did we apply to the police,” the girl’s parents said.

The year 2014 was a particularly dark year with many cases of child abuse and the murders of children making headlines in Turkey. The Justice Ministry said last September that an average of 650 cases of child abuse are registered at the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) every month, but many cases are not reported to the authorities.