A mum who claimed it was an accident when her four-year-old daughter fell out of the window has been jailed for 24 years after cops discovered it was the second child she had lost in the same way.
Harrowing CCTV footage from Rize, north-eastern Turkey, shows the moment when little Fatma Nur flew out the window and landed with a thud on the pavement below.
She was taken to Rize State Hospital but succumbed to her injuries later that day, on 12th November 2019.
The police investigation into what was initially suspected to be an accidental death turned into a murder probe when evidence pointed towards foul play on the part of her mother, Emine Havuz.
Police had found it suspicious that Fatma’s older brother, Harun, had also died aged four after falling from a window in 2015.
Havuz was swiftly arrested, remanded in custody, and charged with Fatma’s murder.
She attended the 13th hearing of her trial at Rize Heavy Penal Court via video link from Diyarbakir Women’s Closed Prison on 8th November.
She was convicted of ‘deliberate killing of one’s own child or of a person who is physically or mentally unable to defend herself’ and given aggravated life imprisonment.
However, a discount for good conduct was applied, and the sentence was downgraded to life imprisonment.
This means she will spend at least 24 – as opposed to 30 – years in prison before she can be considered for parole.
Under Turkish law, a ‘good conduct’ discount can be applied at the discretion of the judge.
Also known as a ‘reputation discount’, the defendant’s background and how he or she acted after the crime was committed and during the trial are taken into account for the time that can be taken off a defendant’s sentence.
Havuz’s lawyer, Yunus Coruh, had been pushing for a lesser charge of ‘killing by negligence’.
Havuz, now aged 36, had pleaded her innocence throughout the trial and demanded she be released.
It was reported in April that father Medet Havuz had believed his wife’s version that Fatma’s death was an accident.
It is not clear if the sentence can be appealed or if it is final, and no information was given on whether Havuz was also investigated over the earlier death of her son.
