Womane killing in Turkey as two more women fall victim to femicide

Two more women have fallen victim to femicide in the southeastern provinces of Batman and Gaziantep, while another woman in the Central Anatolian province of Çorum has been stabbed by her partner, with her son crying for help beside her from police.

“Save women. Save all women. Save women who are mothers,” the nine-year-old boy cried, begging the police officers to help his mother.

In Çorum, Gülten K., a mother of three, was stabbed by her 51-year-old partner. She was left critically wounded and was later hospitalized.

Her nine-year-old son, who came to the scene, begged the police to “save all women,” a cry for help that reverberates across much of Turkey, which is wrestling with an increasing number of femicides and violence against women.

In the Pınarbaşı neighborhood of Batman province, a 21-year-old mother of two, was walking on the pavement when a white van pursued her. Her ex-husband, who was inside the van, shot her and left the scene.

The woman, who was shot in the head and shoulder, died at the scene. Police officials detained the ex-husband immediately when they identified him in CCTV footage.

In another incident in the Şahinbey district of Gaziantep, a husband stabbed his 22-year-old wife, a mother of two, to death.

According to the police officials, the couple started quarrelling for an unknown reason, which got later got intense. The husband, Hasan A., stabbed his wife, Ayşe A., several times. She died on the way to hospital and the husband, who fled the scene, was later caught.

At least 245 women were murdered in 2020 so far, according to Anıt Sayaç, an online femicide tally. Women’s rights groups and feminists say violence against women and femicides are perennial in the country and demand legal authorities and the government take tangible action.