Controversial child abuse case postponed to March 31

ISTANBUL

The child abuse case that shook the entire country, as the victim was a 6-year-old girl at the time of her forced marriage, has been postponed to March 31, the date slated for announcing the final verdict.

The woman, identified only by the initials H.K.G., accused her father, Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel, the head of the Hiranur Foundation affiliated with İsmailağa Jamia, of forcibly marrying her to a sect member in 2004 when she was just 6.

The allegations came to the country’s agenda and caused a bombardment of cursing posts on social media platforms when a daily published the story last December.

In the hearing on Feb. 27, the relatives of the victim were heard as witnesses.

With the decision to continue the detention of the defendants, the court adjourned the hearing to March 21, when the court will announce its final verdict.

The prosecutor asked for a prison sentence of over 67 years for İstekli with charges of “child abuse” and “sexual assault” and 22 and a half years for each of H.K.G.’s parents for “sexual harassment of children.”