Man arrested for throwing acid at three-year-old nephew in Istanbul

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

A man has been arrested over carrying out an acid attack on his three-year-old nephew in the playground of an Istanbul restaurant.

The 33-year-old marketing executive, identified only by the initials C.A., was married and had a son around the same age as the acid attack victim. 

C.A. was arrested on Oct. 23 over the attack on the son of his sister-in-law, reportedly out of “jealousy.”

In his testimony at the homicide bureau, the man confessed to the attack and said he did it because he thought the boy received more attention from the family than his own son. 

The police investigation revealed that C.A. had organized a meal for the entire family on Oct. 17, the night of the attack. During the meal the children were left in the restaurant’s playground, where restaurant workers were assigned to look after them. 

C.A., who was carrying the acid in a toothpaste tube, left the table for the playground during the dinner and threw acid on the face of his victim.

After the attack, the man reportedly went to a nearby market to purchase another tube of toothpaste to show to the police in case a witness described how the attack was carried out.  

In her testimony, C.A.’s wife said her husband had not slept for two days after the incident as a result of depression. 

“I thought he couldn’t sleep because he was sad for the boy. But it turned out that he couldn’t sleep because he was the attacker,” she stated. 

After C.A.’s confession, the victim’s family recalled a previous incident that may have been an earlier attempt to harm the boy, in which one of the boy’s remote-controlled toys exploded three months prior to the acid attack. 

Police investigating the attack are seeking to retrieve video footage from the playground that was likely deleted by a hacker before the incident. 

C.A. was dressed in a steel vest before leaving for court in order to prevent an attempted attack.