Elderly woman dies of heart attack after police raid wrong house in Turkey’s south
ANTALYA
An elderly woman has died of a heart attack stemming from fear after the police raided a wrong address in order to apprehend a murder suspect in the southern province of Antalya. Hamide Yücel, 65, who had been suffering from a heart condition, had a heart attack after the police told him that his son Ali Yücel, 28, has been sought over a murder case, when in fact Yücel was innocent. Two civilian police officers from homicide department arrived in Hamide Yücel’s house around 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 22. One of the police officers took out his weapon and wanted to detain Ali Yücel, who was sitting in front of the house. Hamide Yücel went outside upon hearing voices and fainted after finding out that the police wanted to detain his son over a murder case.
One of the police officers called the ambulance and the other one realized that the suspect they have been searching for wasn’t Ali Yücel. Saying that his mother has a heart disease, Yücel gave his mother a heart massage until the ambulance arrived.
Hamide Yücel lost her life despite all efforts to save her life. The civilian police officers then left the scene.
Describing the events that unfolded, Ali Yücel said that he will file a complaint against the police officers.
“We were sitting at the entrance. The door suddenly opened and someone with a weapon ran to us. We panicked and asked them who they were. They didn’t answer and got me to the ground. My mother then went outside after hearing the screams. She said, ‘Stop, he is my son. Where are you taking him? I won’t let him go anywhere.’ The police then yelled, ‘Move away. Your son is being sought over murder’ and pushed my mother towards the couch. My mother then fainted. While I was trying to help her, the police was still trying to take me away,” he said.
The police authorities have said that an investigation will be launched into the two police officers.
Hamide Yücel’s funeral was scheduled to be held on Jan. 23.
