Baby who died alone at home to be laid to rest by Gölcük people

KOCAELİ

The baby boy died after his 34-year-old mother, who works at a primary school as a teacher, left him at home while she went to the southern province of Hatay to visit her family. DHA photo

A two-month-old baby, who died after his mother left him alone at home for nine days, will be buried by the people of Gölcük at a cemetery of earthquake victims, as nobody from his family has staked out a claim on him.

However, as reports emerged that the baby would be laid to rest alone today, people living in Gölcük district of the northwestern province of Kocaeli are reported to be planning to attend the funeral.

The official head of the district, Adem Yazıcı, will also accompany hundreds of people living in Gölcük during the prayer ceremony to be held before his burial.

The baby boy died after his 34-year-old mother, who works at a primary school as a teacher, left him at home while she went to the southern province of Hatay to visit her family during the nine-day Eid-al Adha holiday. 

His body has been kept at the morgue of a hospital for the past two weeks.

While the mother, S.M.D, is in the jail after being arrested following the revelation of the incident, her parents were also reported as not wanting to take custody their grandson’s body despite coming to prosecution office.

A police officer who is claimed to be the father of the child by S.M.D. had also presented himself the police department after the incident, denying knowing about the baby.

As the legal period for his burial has terminated by the early hours of today, the baby will be buried at an earthquake victims’ cemetery as there is no Cemetery of the Nameless in the district.

Gölcük was at the epicenter of the Aug. 17, 1999, Marmara earthquake that killed over 17,000 people throughout the whole Marmara region.