Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency:  Newsflash

The dad allegedly seen in this footage brutally and repeatedly striking his two-month-old baby on the face has gone on trial for attempted murder and faces 20 years if convicted.

The baby’s mother Semra Goc, age not disclosed, said in her police statement that she had always been suspicious about her baby boy Cihan Goc often crying when he was with his father.

She said her husband Yunus Goc, age not disclosed, would always claim whenever the baby cried – usually when he was with his dad at their home in the district of Sahinbey in the Turkish province of Gaziantep – that, in fact, she was the one who had upset him.

She said: “The baby was crying all the time while in my husband’s arms. But he always wanted to blame me, he was saying to the baby things like, ‘poor baby, did your mother beat you up?’

“I suspected my husband because the baby started crying every time I left the room, and one day I looked through the keyhole.”

She said she could not believe her eyes when she saw her husband hit the baby, but she was too terrified to confront him in case he harmed them both. So she turned to her mother for help.

She said: “I asked her to give me a camera phone. I hid the phone in a closet and started recording.

“I heard the baby’s cry. I waited outside the room for a while, and then I went inside. I didn’t say anything to him so he wouldn’t suspect anything.

“Otherwise, much worse things could have happened. He would always tell me he would kill me and take the baby. So I took the baby and left the room as if nothing had happened.”

In the footage, the father first tries to put the baby boy to sleep before putting him on the floor.

After the baby begins to cry, the man takes him in his arms and starts striking him mercilessly.

After a while, Semra enters the room, takes the baby in her arms, and leaves the room, trying to calm the baby down.

She later took the camera phone, saw the shocking footage it had recorded, and handed it over to the police, who immediately launched an investigation.

The mother reportedly left the home and took shelter at her family’s house, while the baby survived the violent attack, which took place on 29th November 2021, albeit with a brain haemorrhage.

The Gaziantep Governor’s Office issued a statement regarding the incident and informed that the suspect had been arrested and taken into custody, and that a criminal case had been opened against him.

The first hearing of the case for attempted murder was held at the Gaziantep 1st High Criminal Court on Tuesday, 15th February.

The defendant said he was very sorry, telling the court: “At that moment, I was blinded by anger. I don’t know why I hit the baby. There is no excuse for this. I lost myself for a moment. I am sane. I have not had any psychiatric treatment. I do not have any mental issues. I remember hitting him, but I just don’t know how I could have done it.”

The court has requested a medical report from the Sahinbey Training and Research Hospital, and the accused remains in preventive custody as the trial continues.

He faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.