Soldier Hit in Head by Sergeant Major Loses His Life

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Performing compulsory military service as private in Gemlik, Bursa, Gökhan Kılıç has lost his life by a Sergeant Major O.H. hitting his head with a helmet.

According to İsmail Saymaz from Hürriyet, the incident occurred at around 6:30 p.m. on October 7. Performing compulsory military service at the Gemlik Military Veteran School, Kılıç was caught to the sergeant major while talking to his mother on the phone.

The only eyewitness of the incident A.K. said that Kılıç went to the toilet to wash his hands while talking on the phone, he heard a sound “ah” and then he saw Kılıç lying on the floor and the sergeant major holding the helmet in his hand. A.K. said:

“Gökhan stood up. The sergeant major gave the helmet to me. He kept saying ‘Don’t you know that it is forbidden’. We headed towards the company. Gökhan was examining left of his head with his hand saying ‘I am having a headace’. I asked ‘What happened?’, and he said, ‘Sergeant Major hit my head with the helmet when he saw me talking on the phone’”.

“He is fine, he just needs to wash his face”

In a few minutes, Kılıç crouched in the corridor and said “I’m having a headache, I feel terrible”. A.K. said “Then I went to Sergeant Major O.H. and told him about it”.

“The sergeant major said, ‘He is fine, he just needs to wash his face and get to sleep’.

“When he didn’t do anything, we ran to the company and took Gökhan to the bathroom. We washed his face. He wasn’t able to answer to questions. He was stuttering. When he put his head in the lap of a friend, Sergeant Major Osman came and said, ‘Call the ambulance’”…

He stayed in come for 54 days

Taken to Bursa State Hospital, Kılıç was determined to have a brain hemorrhage.

Kılıç passed away on November 29 after 54 days of coma.

On the same day, O.H. was arrested on charge of “Willful injury leading to death”.

In his deposition, sergeant major O.H. said that he didn’t “hit him with the helmet but he just rubbed the helmet on his left ear”. (EKN/TK)