Neighbors on duty to protect woman from violent husband

Nurettin Kurt ANKARA

A woman, who was stabbed 43 times by her husband, is being protected by her neighbors after a court decided they would not arrest the man.

Hasret Kara, 31, mother of four, was stabbed 43 times by her husband Yakup Kara, 37, with a screwdriver in their house in the Çekmeköy neighborhood of Istanbul on Aug. 8.

The woman survived the attack, but had to have surgery on her lungs due to the serious injuries she sustained.

Hasret Kara said her husband had physically assaulted her several times before, adding that on one occasion, he broke one of the bones in her chest while she was pregnant.

Last year, Kara applied to the court for a divorce. “He tried to convince me not to divorce [him], but I was determined. At night, I would stay at the hairdressers working because he was at home. I would stay with my kids at home if he did not come home,” said Kara adding she was attacked by her husband at home when she attempted to go work on Aug. 8.

Prosecutor Caner Ergöz demanded the arrest of her husband, but the Istanbul 4th Penal Court judge decided to later release the man.

Yahya Silyanoğlu, who lives in the same apartment building, said he keeps his specially trained dog in the garden at night in order to keep the husband away from Kara and her children.

“We stay on duty at the apartment until late at night with our friends. This man still comes here and threatens the woman,” Silyanoğlu said.

Fatma Erdem, who has a store in the same neighborhood said she will beat the man herself if he returns to the house.

“What kind of justice is this? Kara and her children cannot enter their own house. They are afraid and this man is free to go anywhere [he likes],” said Erdem.