A high criminal court in İstanbul that retried the ex-husband and parents of a young woman who filed criminal complaints against them alleging that she was sexually abused starting at the age of six has handed down a longer sentence of 36 years to the ex-husband, the Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported on Monday.
Turkey learned about the ordeal of the woman, identified only by the initials H.K.G., on December 3, 2022, in a report by Birgün daily journalist Timur Soykan, who said H.K.G., the daughter of a man affiliated with the İsmailağa community — a Sunni sect based in İstanbul — had been sexually abused by Kadir İstekli, a then-29-year-old neighbor and member of the community, when she was six.
According to Soykan, H.K.G. was engaged to İstekli at the age of 13, married him in a religious ceremony when she was 14 and became a mother at 17. Their official marriage reportedly took place when H.K.G. turned 18.
DHA reported that the İstanbul Anatolia 2nd High Criminal Court handed down prison sentences of 36 years to İstekli and 18 years, nine months to H.K.G.’s father, Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel, during the hearing on Monday. The court also ruled to uphold the arrest warrant for the fugitive mother, Fatıma Gümüşel.
On October 23, 2023 the same court handed down prison sentences of 30 years to İstekli, 20 years to Ziya Gümüşel and 16 years, eight months to Fatıma Gümüşel. The 24th Criminal Chamber of the İstanbul Regional Appeals Court then overturned the decision, stating that the sentences should be increased.
The appeals court said İstekli should receive two separate sentences for the offenses of “repeated child molestation” and “sexual assault of a spouse.” It also said the sentences for Ziya and Fatıma Gümüşel should be increased due to their role as parents.
At Monday’s retrial, the İstanbul Anatolia 2nd High Criminal Court handed down two sentences of 21 years and 15 years to İstekli on charges of “repeated child molestation” and “sexual assault of a spouse,” respectively, while giving Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel 18 years, nine months for “allowing repeated child molestation.”
H.K.G.’s allegations sparked outrage in Turkey, which has “one of the highest rates of child marriage in Europe,” with an estimated 15 percent of girls married before the age of 18 and 2 percent married before the age of 15, according to the campaign group Girls Not Brides.
Although the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years in Turkey, the law allows parties to marry at 17 with parental consent, or, in exceptional circumstances, a court may grant approval for marriage at age 16.