Istanbul court releases murdered boy’s mom

Çetin Aydın – ISTANBUL

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The mother of a 10-year-old boy, whose body was found in a forest in Istanbul last week, was released under judicial control on March 31 after being detained for the second time on charges of abetting the killing, in which a shuttle driver was arrested as the main suspect, confessing the crime.

Beratcan Karakütük’s body was found March 23 in a water channel of a forest in the Tuzla district of Istanbul after a long search. The boy had gone missing in the Kartal district of Istanbul on March 9. 

Police detained the driver of the boy’s shuttle, Ersin Kaşıkçı, as the main suspect in the murder on March 28, but the man accused the mother of the child, T.K., of being the instigator of the murder.

 “I am the boyfriend of [Beratcan’s] mother. The kid saw us together. His mother wanted me to kill the boy so that he wouldn’t tell his father,” said Kaşıkçı, admitting that he choked the boy to death.

Following Kaşıkçı’s testimony, T.K. had been detained, before being released. She was detained once again late March 30, before she was freed yesterday by the court, which ruled a travel ban for the mother.

In her initial testimony, T.K. admitted to her relationship with Kaşıkçı, but denied the charges. “I was with him because I loved him. Recently there was a lot of gossip in the neighborhood. My husband saw some of my texts; he was suspicious. When I told [Kaşıkçı] that I wanted to break up with him, he got very angry. On the day that my son disappeared, I also told him that I wanted to break up with him. He said, ‘I will hurt you very badly,” said T.K.