Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on Sunday that Turkey would adopt chemical castration for child abusers after the brutal abuse and murder of an 8-year-old child was discovered over the weekend.
Eylül Yağlıkara had been missing since June 22 in Ankara’s Uzunbeyli village and was found on Saturday buried near a power pole one kilometer from the village.
A preliminary autopsy indicated that she had been abused and tortured.
Uğur K., a neighbor of the Yağlıkara family, was named a suspect in the incident after strands of the girl’s hair were found in his car.
Bozdağ issued a statement on the death of the girl, referring to the government’s previous plans to adopt chemical castration as punishment for child abusers, the T24 news website reported.
“We recently announced more severe punishment [for such cases] after reviewing possible measures against sexual abusers; however, the elections interrupted the process,” Bozdağ said.
On Feb. 20 Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül revealed that the ministry had been working on a memorandum ordering chemical castration.
In 2016 a change in regulations was published in the Official Gazette, including chemical castration of child abusers and rapists, but the Council of State halted the implementation in August 2017 after the Turkish Psychiatry Association filed an appeal.
According to the association, the new regulation suggested more than “medical treatment” and had the risk of including “all sexual crimes.”