WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT

(starts)

The trial has begun of a Turkish man accused of pouring flesh-eating chemicals on a woman that burned her flesh away right down to the bone and left her blind.

The victim’s face and parts of her body were completely dissolved leaving her with no face and permanently bedridden after the horrific attack.

The shocking attack took place in Turkey’s largest city Istanbul when Mehmet Yildiz, 30, allegedly sneaked into the house of his friend Yasemin Uzuncelebi, 42, and poured the chemicals on her face and body before fleeing on 5th October 2021.

He had even reportedly turned off the water to the home beforehand so that she would burn alive.

The defendant attended the Kucukcekmece 2nd High Criminal Court in a suburb of Istanbul after being taken there from prison by police officers.

Yasemin spent five months in intensive care before being discharged from hospital. She is now reportedly permanently bedridden. She was unable to attend the hearing in person as she is on a ventilator.

Nazli Uzuncelebi, the victim’s sister, was present at the hearing.

A witness named only as U. A., who worked at the scene of the crime as a police officer, told the court: “I was on the crime scene investigation team. The incident was reported to us as a fire.

“In the first investigation we made at the home, we evaluated that the fire started there because the most evidence was in the bedroom. We saw marks on the mattress and pillow that we thought had been caused by fire.

“There were drops of the same colour as the traces we found in the bedroom that had dripped onto the floor from the bedroom to the kitchen and bathroom.

“The injured first went into rooms where there was a sink. There were marks on the kitchen and bathroom sinks as if they had been touched by hand.”

Yildiz claimed during the hearing that he did not want to kill Yasemin. He reportedly said: “I didn’t have thought of killing Yasemin, I had dreams about life.”

He said: “I had a relationship with Yasemin Uzuncelebi that lasted about three and a half years. I was thinking seriously. I thought we were going to get married. Yasemin had always postponed my marriage request. I didn’t have anything on me when I entered and left the flat. The incident occurred as a result of an accident. I did not have the thought of killing Yasemin.”

The defendant’s lawyer reportedly said that a “report on [his client’s] mental retardation should be taken into account.”

In February 2022, a court had heard that the defendant had allegedly turned off the water and emptied jugs and other containers first so the victim could do nothing as chemicals ravaged her face and body, leaving the bones of her skull exposed.

Prosecutors have requested a prison sentence ranging from 13 to 20 years.

The court reportedly decided to keep the defendant in custody and postponed the hearing to a later date.

(T4/ends)