Suspicious death of 11-year-old Rabia Naz: Family applies to Constitutional Court
Rabia Naz Vatan's Father Şaban Vatan with her picture.
Click to read the article in Turkish
The family of Rabia Naz Vatan (11), who died suspiciously in the northeastern Giresun province in April 2018, made an individual application to the Constitutional Court after the prosecutor's offices dismissed the investigation into the child's death.
In the application, the family's lawyers stated that Article 17/1 (Personal inviolability, corporeal and spiritual existence of the individual), Article 36 (The right to a fair trial) and Article 40 (Protection of fundamental rights and freedoms) of the Constitution was violated and these violations should be removed.
They also requested that the case file should be sent to a relevant court as the violations were caused by a court verdict.
The attorneys demanded one million lira (~132,500 US dollars) for pecuniary damages and one million lira for non-pecuniary damages.
Görele Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on July 17 dismissed the investigation into the child's death.
Considering the evidence, forensic medicine reports and witness statements, it concluded that the girl died after falling from a height and there was no evidence that she was not intentionally or recklessly killed by someone. Therefore, it stated, public prosecution was not possible.
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. 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 March 20, 2019, 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 April 10, the Giresun Penal Court of Peace ruled that Şaban Vatan shall be hospitalized in Samsun Mental Health Institution to determine whether he is mentally sound or not. Vatan has referred to the verdict as "a downright injustice." |
(EKN/VK)