Playing with a hunting rifle, child kills sister in Antep

* Photo and news: AA

Click to read the article in Turkish

Playing with a hunting rifle in Turkey's southeastern province of Antep, a child shot her/his sibling to death by mistake.

The incident happened in Şahinbey district the other day (January 10). A child started playing with the hunting rifle at their house. The rifle went off and wounded 5-year-old Medine Y. The paramedic teams, arriving at the scene of the incident, found out that she lost her life there.

After the incident was portrayed as a dog attack on some platforms, Gaziantep Governor Davut Gül has released a written statement.

"A child living in Gaziantep caused the death of her/his 5-year-old sibling in an accident while playing with a hunting rifle at home," the Governor has said, noting that the incident was not a dog attack.

The deceased body of Medine Y. was given to her family after the autopsy at the Forensic Medicine Institution. Following the funeral, the child was laid to rest in the Yeşilkent Cemetery in Antep.

'Is the child to blame?'

Working for individual disarmament in Turkey, the Umut (Hope) Foundation has long been warning adults who cause irreversible sorrows by having weapons at home and leaving them unattended.

"The guns easily accessed by children at houses either kill them or make them murderers involuntarily. But, is the child to blame," the Foundation has said in a statement, noting that while playing with easily accessible weapons, children kill themselves or their siblings and friends.

The Umut Foundation has also been recommending that 'Training Programs' should be offered to children at schools as well as to parents about holding a weapon at home, the responsibilities arising from this possession, what violence is and what it will cost. (AÖ/SD)