Details into Turkish girl’s suicide after alleged assault revealed

Gülden Aydın – KIRŞEHİR

Details into the suicide of teenage student Cansel B.K. after she was allegedly sexually assaulted by her math teacher in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri have begun to emerge, while her family remains in shock over the incident. 

The 18-year-old, who was a 12th grade student at a high-school in Kayseri’s Melikgazi district, committed suicide on Feb. 17 by shooting herself in the head with her police officer father’s shotgun, two days after allegedly being sexually assaulted by her math teacher, identified as Bayram Ö.

“On Feb. 14, Cansel went to a preparation course for university examinations at her school, one of the most successful and renowned in Kayseri, Mustafa Eminoğlu Anatolian High School. That day, that teacher [Bayram Ö.] took Cansel from the course. The school, which calls the parents when students are late even for five minutes, did not call her [Cansel’s] mother that day. Why? Why?” Cansel’s aunt asked during an interview, preferring to not refer to the accused teacher by name.

“Cansel told the vice principal of the school and a counselor about the incident the following day [Feb. 15]. And what did they do? Nothing. Our child faints in school due to the nightmare she had been through. The school administration turns away the ambulance that came for her and closes her up in the infirmary; that ‘famous’ school’s administration is as guilty as that teacher. They covered up the rape even though Cansel told them about it... They turned a blind eye to the indignity of rape,” Cansel’s aunt added. 


Speaking about the importance of education for their family, Cansel’s cousin said: “She [Cansel] had brought 13 certificates home... 11 of these were certificates of merit and two were certificates of participation. She told us about the score she received from her preparatory test a couple weeks ago. It was enough to get into a faculty of dentistry.”

According to Cansel’s aunt, the family learned about the rape incident two days after she was buried. “Do you know what the most painful part is? All the family thought that she committed suicide because of the stress caused by the university examination. We buried her and learned the truth two days later from her school friends. Our child struggled but the school administration covered the incident up,” she said.  

“I believe that those responsible will be punished from the upper limit. The teacher denied his crime at the police station but admitted it at the prosecutor’s office. The Family and Social Policies Ministry is also included in the lawsuit,” said the family’s lawyer, Kamil Avşaroğlu. 

Bayram Ö., who is married with two kids, has been arrested. The school principal and a vice principal were freed on the condition of legal control, while another vice principal and two counselors were released pending trial.