Reversal of judgement demanded for two girls sentenced to prison over murder of mother

İZMİR

Prosecutors have demanded to reverse the judgement of a court in the case of two girls who received at least 10 years in prison over the murder of their mother in the Aegean province of İzmir in 2013. 

The murder had occurred in the Aliağa district in 2013. The girls identified as Ş.P., 19, and B.P., 17, stabbed their mother, Gülseren Süngü, 39, to death after getting involved in an altercation. Süngü, who was divorced, was reportedly flirting with a man, who was a minibus driver. In their indictment, the girls said their mother had threatened them with a kitchen knife after they said they did not want her to meet him. The quarrel later resulted in a fight and the girls stabbed their mother 24 times after electroshocking her. 

The court ordered 20 years in prison for Ş.P and 10 years for B.P on charges of intentional murder as the Supreme Court of Appeals’ Prosecutor’s Office demanded the reversal of judgement, ruling that they received disproportionate and excessive punishment.

Meanwhile, the judges decided to consult the Family and Social Policies Ministry as the case involved a mother and a woman, despite prosecutors’ demand. The judges later sent the case to a district court. 

Lawyers from the ministry said the girls had received generous good conduct abatement for committing murder under unjust provocation, contrary to the prosecutors’ demand. 

The decision of the Supreme Court is yet to be announced following the family ministry lawyers’ decision.   

The lawyer of the girls, Hakan Turan, said he was expecting the girls to be sentenced with reduced punishment, saying that the prosecutors agreed with him.