More revealed about 6-year-old's marriage as child abuse in religious groups under spotlight

Led by Kılıçdaroğlu, CHP deputies march towards the Justice Ministry. (Photo: AA)

The revelation of a woman's allegations that she had been forced to marry a 29-year-old man at the age of six rattled Türkiye, once again bringing attention to child abuse in the country's religious communities.

The woman, identified with the initials H.K.G., is the daughter of Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel, a prominent figure in the İsmailağa sect, a politically influential Islamic community.

An investigation was opened in November 2020, after H.K.G. filed a complaint. Timur Soykan, a columnist for the daily BirGün, first revealed the investigation in an article on December 3. The article included parts of the woman's statement to the prosecutors, and the transcript of her conversations with İ.K., the man whom she married, which she had secretly recorded.

According to the transcript, the man admits to having intercourse with H.K.G. when she was a minor but denies it was rape.

In another article on December 7, Soykan revealed photographs of H.K.G. in a wedding dress and together with K.İ.

H.K.G. gave two more statements to the prosecutors, with the latest one in June, The Independent Turkish reported. Accordingly, the prosecutors completed the investigation last week and a case was filed. The first hearing will take place in May 2023.

In June, H.K.G. told the prosecutors that she had secretly bought a mobile phone and told what she had been through to a woman she had met over the Wattpad app. She had advised her to seek help from the state, which she did.

Releasing a video following the initial reports, H.K.G.'s brother and two sisters denied her allegations that she had been forced to marry İ.K. at the age of six. She had married him when she was 18, they claimed.

The 2012 investigation

According to the indictment, H.K.G. went to the hospital in 2012, when she was 16, due to irregular periods. Because she was minor and there was a suspicion of pregnancy, doctors informed the police about the situation. The family claimed that she was older.

After an investigation was opened, the prosecutor ordered H.K.G.'s bone age to be determined. H.K.G. went to the Haydarpaşa Numune Hospital with Mehmet Emin M., a member of the İsmailağa sect.

However, instead of H.K.G., samples were taken from a woman aged 21 and the investigation was dropped.

After H.K.G.'s complaint in 2020, an investigation for "forgery of official documents" was launched but it was dropped as well, due to the statute of limitations.

Debate at the parliament

The issue caused a heated debate at the parliament, with opposition MPs questioning why no action was taken against the theological school run by the İsmailağa sect.

Family and Social Services Minister Derya Yanık said H.K.G. was put in a ministry guesthouse in December 2020, after her complaint to the prosecutors. There were no findings of systematic abuse in the madrasah, according to the minister.

Sera Kadıgil, an MP for the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP), slammed the minister, saying, "The victim was put under protection in 2020 but the madrasah, the nest of abuse, still works! The minister bragging about protecting a child who managed to escape doesn't say a word about the sect and its sheikh, which made his six-year-old daughter a bride to his 30-year-old successor!"

She then recited a part of H.K.G.'s statement so that it would be recorded in the parliamentary minutes.

"... Over time, they started to behave like everything was normal. I thought children would get married when they were little. My family would tell me, 'If you don't obey Kadir, angels will curse you and you'll burn in hell.' When I was just about to escape, my family caught me. My father battered me. He took my phone away from me. My father told me, 'You have committed a great sin'."

Kılıçdaroğlu at the Justice Ministry

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), and party executives walked to the Justice Ministry today to protest the government over its inaction.

Speaking to reporters there, Kılıçdaroğlu said, "Who have you been hiding behind for two years? Do the people you take photos with put pressure on you to cover up this incident?" referring to government officials' photos with the leaders of the İsmailağa sect.

"I'm really very angry. A six-year-old child was systematically raped in this country. I've been waiting for days for the government to speak up. When the issue was brought up in the parliament, the family minister said, 'We have been aware of this incident for two years.' Not two days, not two months ... What have you done for two years for God's sake?"

Protests

Political parties and women's groups have held several demonstrations since the revelation of the incident.

The TİP and the Left (SOL) Party held separate demonstrations outside of the Hiranur Foundation in Sancaktepe, İstanbul, on December 7 and December 12, respectively. The foundation is headed by H.K.G.'s father, Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel.

They accused the government of helping such religious sects grow their influence on society, especially through educational organizations.

Left Party members protesting outside of the foundation's office.

"Inside these sects and communities, there are thousands of people who worship their sheikhs, who accept every word uttered by their sheikhs without question. There are thousands of children who are abused in an organized manner and who suffer both psychological and physical violence," said Arzum Yalçın, head of the TİP youth branch.

"In a sect where even the daughter of the sheikh was married at the age of 6, we don't event want to think about what happens to the children of the followers."

The Women Are Stronger Together (Kadınlar Birlikte Güçlü) group held a demonstration on Sunday in İstanbul's Kadıköy.

Reading out a statement in the name of the group, Bilen Sevda Kölen said, "Sexual abuse is not individual, it's not an exception. It's the foundation of many 'normal' families."

"We live in a society where religious marriage is decriminalized and even encouraged from a very young age, and families are built on abuse," she said.

Past cases of abuse in religious communities

At least 15 cases of abuse were revealed in educational organizations run by religious communities in the past 16 years, according to a compilation by the Diken news portal.

◙ In 2008, the then-head of the Ensar Foundation's Çorum branch, Zekai İşler, was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison for abusing two students. The foundation has close ties to the government.

◙ In 2015, Rafet Ermiş, head of the Youth, Knowledge and Wisdom Association was sentenced to 24 years in prison for abusing four children in Sinop.

◙ In 2016, it was revealed that 10 children were systematically abused in dormitories run by the Ensar Foundation in Karaman between 2012 and 2015. Muharrem Büyüktürk, a teacher, was sentenced to 508 years and 3 months in prison.

◙ In 2017, F.T., the manager of a boys' dormitory run by the Süleymancılar sect in Adıyaman was sentenced to 30 years in prison for abusing two children aged 9 and 10.

◙ In a Quran course in Konya, five students aged between 16-18 were found guilty of abusing five boys aged 11-12. Two defendants were sentenced to 6 years in prison each.

◙ In 2018, sheikh of the Faruki sect in Konya was sentenced to 62 years in prison for sexually abusing five men and boys.

◙ In Erzurum, Mehmet Sıddık Çiçek, an executive of a boys' dormitory run by the Suffa Education Foundation in Erzurum, was sentenced to 26 years in prison for sexually abusing two children.

◙ In 2019, Ömer Faruk E., a Quran instructor at the dormitory run by the Süleymancılar sect in İzmir, was sentenced to 53 years in prison for abusing seven children aged between 9 and 12.

◙ In 2020, three people received prison sentences of from 37 years to 76 years and 11 months for abusing children in an unlicensed Quran course in İstanbul.

◙ Fatih Nurullah, sheikh of the Uşşaki sect was sentenced to 10 years and 5 months in prison for abusing a 12-year-old girl.

◙ Legal proceedings regarding five other incidents are underway. (VK)