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Judge jails Turkish woman’s killer for life
ANKARA, Oct 21, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A Turkish court on Monday handed a life
sentence to a man who was convicted of murdering a woman in front of her 10-
year old daughter in a high-profile case which sparked outrage, state media
reported.
The murder of 38-year-old Emine Bulut in August caused a furore after a
video went viral of the moments after she was stabbed.
Her ex-husband Fedai Varan, 43, was found guilty of Bulut’s murder by the
court in the central city of Kirikkale, according to state news agency
Anadolu.
The number of women killed in Turkey is rising.
According to the women’s rights group We Will Stop Femicide, 354 women
were killed in the first nine months of 2019.
The group said 121 women were killed in 2011, while 440 women were killed
in 2018.
Bulut, who had divorced Varan four years earlier, was stabbed in a
restaurant in Kirikkale. She later died in hospital.
In the viral video, Bulut soaked in blood, screams to her daughter: “I
don’t want to die”. The words have since become a rallying cry against rising
femicides in Turkey.
When he was first taken into custody, Varan told police he had killed
Bulut but suggested he had been provoked because she “insulted” him.
During the first hearing on October 9, the killer refused to testify,
using his right to remain silent.
Bulut’s mother, Fadime, had urged the court then to give Varan the
“harshest sentence”.
Varan again opted not to testify on Monday, claiming that he was not being
“justly tried”, Anadolu reported.
There had been fears among women’s rights activists that Varan’s insult
claim would mean he would be given a reduction in his sentence but the court
rejected such a move.
Although Turkey has ratified the Council of Europe’s 2011 Istanbul
Convention on preventing domestic violence, rights defenders criticise the
fact that killers or abusers can received reduced sentences for “good
behaviour” or if they claim “provocation”.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1945HRS