Prosecutor's office dismisses investigation into 11-year-old Rabia Naz's suspicious death

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Görele Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has dismissed the investigation into the suspicious death of Rabia Naz Vatan (11) in the northern Giresun province.

Considering the evidence, forensic medicine reports and witness statements, it concluded that the girl died after falling from a height and there was no evidence that she was not intentionally or recklessly killed by someone. Therefore, it stated, public prosecution was not possible.

Rabia Naz died in Eynesil, Giresun in April 2018. His father, Şaban Vatan, has been claiming that she was killed after being hit by a car driven by the nephew of the former Eynesil district mayor and the incident is being covered up.

He said on Twitter that the prosecutor's decision was "unconscientious" and called on Minister of Justice Abdülhamit Gül to "explain the situation."

MP Sevda Erdan-Kılıç from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), also a member of the inquiry committee on Rabia Naz's death, said that the prosecutor's decision immediately after the completion of the committee report was "against the natural flow of life."

She noted that her party group gave a dissenting opinion to the committee's report.

"This decision will not only hurt public conscience but will also reduce trust in the commissions to be set up by the parliament," she said.

What happened?

Rabia Naz Vatan was found injured in front of her home in Eynesil, Giresun on April 13, 2018. While the police records said that the girl committed suicide by jumping from the terrace of her family's home, her father claimed that she was killed.

"A car hit my daughter but the hit was not strong enough to result in her death. Those who hit Rabia Naz then brought her near my house to make the incident look like my daughter committed suicide. My daughter lost her life because of blood loss," he said.

Vatan said that the person who hit her daughter by a car was the nephew of Eynesil Mayor Coşkun Somuncuoğlu, according to the information he obtained.

Vatan also claimed that the case was covered up after the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) Giresun MP Nurettin Canikli intervened.

Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu met with Vatan in February on the killing of his daughter. He told bianet after that the meeting took 10 minutes.

Giresun Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said on March 20, 2019, that the Görele Chief Public Prosecutor's Office is currently conducting the investigation into the incident and the search for evidence is still continuing.

On March 21, Şaban Vatan was taken into custody upon the complaint of his brother and referred to a mental institution for a mental health check. Father Vatan was then released from detention the next day, on March 22.
On March 26, father Vatan deposed at the security directorate upon the criminal complaint of AKP MP Nurettin Canikli

On April 10, the Giresun Penal Court of Peace ruled that Şaban Vatan shall be hospitalized in Samsun Mental Health Institution to determine whether he is mentally sound or not. Vatan has referred to the verdict as "a downright injustice." (AÖ/RT/VK)