Women defy imam in murdered woman’s funeral, carry the coffin

MERSİN – Doğan News Agency

Women carry the coffin of Özgecan Aslan, who was killed during a rape attempt.

Thousands bid farewell on Feb. 14 to Özgecan Aslan, a 20-year-old woman who was murdered during a rape attempt, in a funeral ceremony held in her hometown Mersin.

Although the imam requested women to step back during the ceremony, hundreds of women attended the funeral prayer on the front lines, while they also carried he coffin of Aslan before and after the prayer. 

The burned body of Aslan, who had been missing for two days, was discovered Feb. 13 in a riverbed near Tarsus district of the southern province of Mersin. 

Three suspects have been detained for stabbing Aslan to death and later burning her remains. According to their testimonies, the woman was killed when she fought back a rape attempt by the driver of the minibus she took to go home.

Songül Aslan, mother of Özgecan, was devastated.

“I want those who killed an innocent girl to be worse than my daughter,” she told reporters during the funeral ceremony. 

“They should be executed, they should be tortured. Özgecan had a wonderful heart, she would work hard, help everyone. I cannot accept that she was massacred when she took a minibus to come home. Is my daughter’s only mistake is to get on a minibus to come home?” she added.



Protests have been held across the country to protest the brutal murder, with the demonstrators carrying photographs of Aslan and other female victims of violence

Gülsüm Sav of the We Will Stop Women Homicides Platform said during a protest in Istanbul that the punishments for the killing of women should be increased. 

“The killing of women is not a natural disaster,” she said.

“The politicians should condemn the killings, the punishments should be increased. These are not difficult things to do, but they have not done these for years.”

Meanwhile, Mersin Municipality canceled all events in the province organized to mark Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day.