Father of Killed Child Worker: Boss Said 'You Will Work Even If It's Raining Stones'

Photo: Mezopotamya Agency

Click to read the article in Turkish

Berivan Karakeçili, a 13-year-old agricultural child worker, lost her life after an object hit her in the head during a whirlwind last week. Her father Kazım Karakeçili has said that the bosses, who told the workers "Even if it's raining stones, you will work," are responsible for his daughter's death.

Berivan, an eighth-grade student, lost her life while working at an orange grove in Antalya after a piece of sheet metal hit her in the head during a whirlwind.

Mourning for the child worker is continuing in Viranşehir district of the southeastern province Urfa.

CLICK - Agricultural Child Worker Loses His Life in Urfa

Speaking to the Mezopotamya Agency, Kazım Karakeçili said that they have been working in Antalya since September. Karakeçili said that they would not want to work in bad weather but the bosses told them, "Even if it's raining stones, you will work."

Saying "As if I left my daughter there, I will never go there again," Karakeçili stated that he will demand justice for his daughter and file a complaint against the owners of the factory.

"Would I have brought my daughter there?"

Karakeçili told about what happened on the day of the incident:
"When the whirlwind begins, everyone runs. She is a child obviously. She looks at the whirlwind. No one helps her. No one even tells her 'Let's run.' She stands in the middle of the grove.

"A piece of metal sheet that was dismantled from a roof because of the whirlwind hits her in the head. Then she lies still. My daughter lost her life there. Had I had the opportunities, would I have brought her there?
"Had there been job opportunities, had I had the financial capability, I would not have taken her from school and gone to those places.

"We are working in mud and water. With my ten children, we get into a car and go there. If something happens to us on the road, a family would be destroyed. If we did not have to, we would not do this."

Work without insurance

Karakeçeli also told about the factory owners' threats of leaving them unemployed:

"Let's say it's raining and storming today. When we say 'We cannot work', they would reply 'Then we won't accept you the next day.' They were looking for excuses to fire us. We do not have employment insurance. We work on a daily basis." (AÖ/VK)