People of Giresun Come Together for Rabia Naz: We Demand Justice

As no progress has been made in the investigation launched into the suspicious death of 11-year-old Rabia Naz Vatan, the people of Giresun have come together at Giresun Atatürk Square to express their concerns and demand justice.

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People of Giresun Come Together for Rabia Naz: We Demand Justice

* Photograph: Twitter

Click to read the article in Turkish

Since no progress has been made in the investigation into the death of 11-year-old Rabia Naz and the attempts of father Şaban Vatan to solve her death with his own means have not yielded any results, the people of Giresun came together at Giresun Atatürk Square yesterday (March 27).

Extending his thanks to the people of Giresun for their sensitivity towards the issue, father Şaban Vatan talked about their months-long struggle to solve the suspicious death of Rabia Naz:

"Our purpose, our aim is that the competent authorities, our state investigate what happened to Rabia Naz and who are the perpetrators.

What happened to Rabia Naz? #DeathofRabia NazShouldBeIlluminated

'File of a child murder pending for a year'

"The file of a child murder has been pending for a year. There are some statements. They say that it was a suicide. I am posting messages with documents and inquiring into the death of my daughter. I have always acted in the light of evidence and reports.

"After an examination conducted into the incident, the Hacettepe Forensic Medicine Institute has expressed the opinion that it was a traffic accident. It is quite clear that blood drained from the artery in her foot.

"They say that my daughter jumped off a high building and fell to the ground. If my daughter had really died after falling from a high place, then, why wasn't there a single drop of blood, a remnant of a tissue or a rub mark? There was also no injury on her head.

'Why didn't they do a DNA matching?'

"Moreover, there were dust and wood chips on my daughter. We have detected an abandoned house on the way. When this house was examined, the DNA of a woman was found there. We demanded that this DNA be matched with that of my daughter, but they haven't done it yet.

"We are not a mother and father who would not know their daughter. Why would an 11-year-old girl child commit suicide? We are all mothers, we are all fathers. Our life purpose is our children."

'They immediately straightjacket the father'

After being detained on March 21, father Şaban Vatan was referred to a mental institution for a mental health check by the Prosecutor's Office. Regarding this issue, Vatan said,

"A medical examination was made in a flash, then a court was convened, again in a flash. After that, a verdict was given, stipulating my referral to the Samsun Psychiatric Hospital. The file of Rabia Naz has been pending for 12 months, there is no progress. But, the father raises his voice and demands justice. Is it for that reason that he is taken to a mental hospital in a straightjacket based on the statement of a single person?"

Concluding his remarks, father Şaban Vatan stated, "Şaban Vatans, Atika Vatans claim their rights now. We demand justice. We demand justice to learn what happened to our children. We do not have any other intention."

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 in.

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 Mach 20 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

(AÖ/SD)