Ministry appeals against defendants’ release in Elmalı child abuse case

"Not the little one's consent, but child abuse" - Photo: Hale Güzin Kızılaslan / csgorselarsiv.org

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In the trial where two children drew the sexual abuse they were subjected to in Elmalı, Antalya, the mother and the stepfather have been released on probation, which has caused a public outrage.

The Ministry of Family and Social Services released a written statement about the issue today (June 29) and announced that they requested the arrest of the mother and the stepfather at the following hearings, adding that the Ministry has been following up the judicial process.

On the other side, several social media users have been expressing their reactions under the hashtag #elmalıdavası (Elmalı case).

Statement by the Ministry

In its statement about the abuse of two siblings in Elmalı in Turkey's Mediterranean province of Antalya, the Ministry has briefly said:

"As it was suspected on May 6, 2020 that two siblings were subjected to abuse, it was reported to the law enforcement.

"After the first meeting was held at our Child Monitoring Center, our children started to be provided with psychosocial support.

"With the start of the judicial process, our Ministry became involved in the trial. At the first hearing that was held on October 16, 2020, the mother and the stepfather were arrested.

"At the third hearing on January 5, 2021, the court ruled for the defendants' release; the attorneys of our Ministry appealed against this ruling.

"At the hearing held on March 5, 2021, the attorneys of our Ministry requested that the defendants be arrested.

"At the hearing held on May 21, 2021, the attorneys of our Ministry reiterated their requests for the arrest of defendants.

"In this traumatic process, we continue supporting our children with our social service models that they need.

"Observing the best interest of our children, our Ministry will continue closely following the ongoing judicial process so that the perpetrators will be given the highest sentence possible."

NOTE: According to a statement released by the Antalya Bar Association, the next hearing of the case will be held on September 17.

Abuse proven by documents

Following the case, Saadet Özkan, the Chair of the Teacher Saadet Association for Struggling Against Child Abuse, has said:

The children cried out loud but the abusers are among us on the street. The abusers have been released in the Elmalı Case and the expression on the defendants' faces was a betrayal of the children. We told the court board, but we were helpless.

She said the following in front of the courthouse after the hearing:

"Two children at the ages of 6 and 8 were systematically abused by the mother, stepfather and relatives. If the lives of these children had not been protected, their dead bodies would perhaps be found somewhere.

"The Forensic Medicine Institutions of Balıkesir and İstanbul and the Social Service specialists of the Antalya Training and Research Hospital have documented that the children were subjected to sexual abuse.

"But, today, those abusers are walking freely among us. It is always said that the documents have been collected and there is no chance of spoliation evidence. But are these children safe?"

What happened?

In 2020, paternal grandmother G.S. applied to the prosecutor's office in Balıkesir province, alleging that her two grandchildren had been subjected to sexual abuse. Paternal grandmother filed a criminal complaint against her ex-daughter-in-law Merve A., her husband Rahmi A. and the daughter-in-law's boyfriends. Launching an investigation upon this complaint, the prosecutor's office took the statements of the children.

Both in the statements that they gave and the pictures that they drew, the two children talked about the abuse that they had been subjected to. These pictures were then added to the investigation file.

At the third hearing held on January 5, 2021, the arrested mother and her arrested stepfather were released by the Elmalı Heavy Penal Court. (AÖ/SD)