Allegation of violence against child in a private day-care center

"No to violence against children!"

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Healthcare worker Ayşegül E. has announced that a teacher named Derya inflicted violence on her 4-year-old son in the day-care center of Oyun Private School in Turkey's Mediterranean province of Mersin.

The mother applied to the police department in the district of Mezitli and the police have notified the prosecutor's office about the issue.

'My child is traumatized'

Speaking to bianet, mother Ayşegül E. has indicated that the incident of violence took place last week and briefly added:

"My son had been going to that nursery for nearly a month. Over the past two weeks, I have noticed a change in my son's behavior. I have started following him closely. Last Wednesday evening, he said to me, 'Mom, teacher Derya threw me a slipper, but I protected myself.' Hearing this, I sent an email to the school. The school administration responded in an email, inviting me to the school to discuss the issue in the evening.

"I did not wait till the evening and went to the school. I told them that I wanted to see the camera records. After a verbal fight, they told me that I could watch the camera footage from a time and place allowed by them.

'Prosecutor's office demanded the camera records'

"I was compelled to accept it. However, in the camera footage that I was allowed to watch, the same teacher was holding another child in the arm and throwing the child on the floor. When I protested, the school official said, 'Why do you care? S/he is not your child.'

"I got more furious upon hearing this. I went to the police station in Mezitli one the same day and filed a criminal complaint. Next day, my son gave a statement in company with a psychologist and a lawyer.

"My son has become very insecure, he has been affected a lot by this violence. My son has been going to that school only for a month, other children have been in this school for months. Moreover, he constantly says, 'Don't beat me, don't do this.' My child has been traumatized.

"We have learned that the prosecutor's office has demanded the camera footage from the school. I am a single mother. The school principal also verbally threatened me. I will seek my rights before court. I will not stop following up this issue. I am a health worker, the principal said to me, 'They expel doctors, you know.' So, they want me to stay silent. I won't.

"We also went to another nursery. Some parents I met there told me that they had taken their children from that private school due to similar suspicions. I am calling out to the whole public: Don't leave me alone."

On the other side, the teacher and the school principal have been reportedly summoned to depose.

School founder: We don't accept the allegations

When we called Ufuk Akbıyık, the executive and founder of the private school in Mersin, and ask him about the allegations, he said that the allegations did not reflect the truth and they would take legal action. "They do not have a single piece of evidence," he said. (EMK/SD)