Father arrested for 'abusing' his child

* Photo: csgorselarsiv.org - "Sexual abuse can be prevented"

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Following a report documenting the "medical findings of anal penetration by an organ or another object", the Selçuk Public Prosecutor's Office in İzmir issued a detention warrant against father Refik Y. for abusing his 6-year-old child Y. Refik Y. has been arrested.

At the hearing on March 24, the Selçuk Civil Court of First Instance gave the custody of 6-year-old Y. to the father who had abused the child.

At the time of the hearing, the court was submitted reports taken from private psychological centers documenting "abuse." However, the court board did not take these reports into consideration.

Lawyer Eren Keskin has said, "If it had not been reported in the press, this case would continue. A judge gave a child to the father who abused him/her. What if the mother had not taken away the children, but given them to the father? The judge would be responsible for new incidents of abuse that might have arisen. How would the judge get away from this conscientiously?"

What happened?

Living in Selçuk, İzmir, Refik Y. and Nazlı U. decided to have a divorce. As there is no family court in Selçuk, the case was referred to the penal court of first instance. While the proceedings of divorce were still ongoing, a lawsuit was filed for the custody of 6-year-old Y.B. and M.M.

At the hearing on March 24, 2021, the attorneys of Nazlı U. submitted expert reports and psychologist's opinions to the court, documenting that the father had abused Y.B. However, taking only the Social Examination Report (SİR) prepared by a single psychologist, the court board gave the temporary custody of the child to the father. According to this decision, the mother would be allowed to meet her children at certain hours every Saturday.

The attorneys of Nazlı U. appealed against this decision. In their petition, they listed the indications of child abuse one by one. Attorneys Özgür Baykal and Fırat Güneş demanded that the temporary custody of the child be taken away from the father by considering the best interest of the child and that their objection to the SİR report be accepted.

The attorneys also requested that a new SİR report be issued after the child was examined by a board of experts, including a child psychiatrist, and that the specialist psychologists be heard at court.

However, the court rejected all of these requests.

With the report of the Forensic Medicine Institution affiliated with the Justice Ministry, it has been confirmed that the child was abused by the father. (EMK/SD)