Turkish woman killed by husband after alleged police negligence

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

DHA photo/ALI AKSOYER

A 25-year-old Turkish woman was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by her husband in Kocaeli following months of threats, prompting family members to accuse the police of negligence after she was taken captive.

The woman, Mehtap Civelek, had filed for divorce from her 32-year-old husband, Volkan Civelek, in July, citing irreconcilable differences.
 
The husband had allegedly been harassing her for months to force her to return home with the couple’s 4-year old daughter, who had been staying with her through the separation.

In response to his threats, Mehtap Civelek had been placed under a new form of state protection that involved emergency call centers for domestic violence victims. The system, however, failed to prevent her murder after she was allegedly kidnapped by her husband on Jan. 17 as she was leaving work early to meet her lawyer over divorce proceedings.

‘Come take the body’

Family members immediately called the police but were reportedly given little help as officers instead sent them from station to station with their inquiries.

“They told us we were watching too many [crime shows],” Mehtap’s sister, Meryem Bülbül, told Doğan news agency. “We asked them to look into things right then and that my sister was in danger. They told us they’ll look, but they did nothing.”

The husband reportedly called Mehtap’s brother two days later on Jan. 19, telling him to come pick up her body in a wooded area of Kocaeli’s Dilovası district.

The husband, however, had actually left his wife with severe injuries on the doorstep of a private hospital in the province’s Gebze district.

Mehtap Civelek was declared brain dead soon after being taken into care at the hospital. Her organs were subsequently donated with her family’s consent.