Story By: Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
Six defendants have gone on trial in Turkey for beating their female relative to death with a rolling pin in an apparent attempt to exorcise an evil spirit from her body.
Ozge Nur Tekin passed away in hospital in the Yenimahalle district of the Turkish capital Ankara on 8th March last year. She was 30 years old.
She had been taken to the hospital unconscious and medics discovered bruises and cuts on her back and arms, prompting them to alert law enforcement.
An investigation was opened and investigators found that the victim died following a ritual to exorcise a ‘jinn’, or evil spirit, from her body.
Six people were arrested over the investigation’s findings. They were named as husband Selcuk Tekin, mother Hatun Efe, father Cemal Efe, mother-in-law Zohre Tekin, alternative medicine practitioner Sevim Ozbas, and ‘exorcist’ Erdal Kaya.
Widower Tekin said his late wife had been suffering from psychological problems and that relatives told him she might be “harmed by a jinn”.
He proceeded to seek the help of Kaya, a resident of Kayseri province.
Tekin said: “The guy told me to sacrifice an animal and later hit her back lightly 100 times with a stick. He also instructed me to get her to undergo cupping therapy.”
He claimed that his wife slept peacefully after the ritual but passed out suddenly after waking up.
But a forensic report confirmed that the victim died of internal bleeding caused by “soft tissue trauma”.
And the court in the Kecioren district of Ankara heard how Ozge was beaten with a rolling pin.
But the defendants have been protesting their innocence. Ozbas told the court: “At the insistence of an acquaintance, I went to the house of this family, whom I had never seen before, to do the cupping.
“There was a woman lying face down on the ground. When she took off her clothes for the cupping, I saw that the woman’s back and arms were all black.
“After the cupping, the woman relaxed a little. They dropped me off at my house again. I have nothing to do with her death.”
And Hatun Efe said: “My son-in-law Selcuk Tekin hit my daughter with a rolling pin. I was in the kitchen at that time.
“After I saw her, my daughter told me that she let them do it. She said she would ask for my help if she needed it.
“That night I stayed with my daughter. She did not have any issues at all.”
Prosecutors have requested jail terms ranging from 12 to 18 years for the defendants for ‘causing death as a result of deliberate injury’ and ‘participation’.
The defendants are all released on bail and the trial is ongoing.
