Death of young woman under cloud of femicide suspicion

GAZİANTEP

A woman has lost her life under suspicious circumstances after crashing into the ground from the fourth floor of an apartment building in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, in what many fear could be yet another femicide.

Mehmet Kaplan, who is said to have been the boyfriend of Duygu Delen, 17, was arrested at the order of a court on charges of “sexual abuse” and “deliberate killing.”

In his interrogation at a police station, the suspect said that he and Delen had a verbal argument while they were at home, but that it turned physical later.

Kaplan claimed that he cut his hand by hitting the glass during the argument and that the death occurred while he was washing his hands in the bathroom, claiming she committed suicide.

But security camera footage which was recording the courtyard outside the building showed Delen plunging to the ground upside down and unevenly, indicating she may have most likely been thrown out of the fourth floor.

The family of the deceased noted that Kaplan often showed obsessive behavior and constantly disturbed the young girl both in front of their house and in the neighborhood where she lived.

“I want justice. Please I want justice,” said Bülent Delen, the mourning father, speaking at his daughter’s funeral.

Many social media users agreed that the incident could be the latest death of a woman in a string of femicides.

Femicides in Turkey, where more than 239 women have already been killed so far in 2020, have become an epidemic which feminist groups say is not fought against adequately.

Investigation continues to determine whether Delen fell as a result of an accident, committed suicide, or was the victim of a murder.

Kaplan crashed his car into a woman last year, causing her to die.

Kaplan was under the influence during the car accident and did not have a driver’s license while driving, but was released from prison on condition of judicial control, according to reports.