12-year-old Syrian bride rescued from abuse in Turkey

Police have rescued a 12-year-old girl from Syria who was married to a middle aged man in a “bridewealth” exchange after she informed her parents that she had been raped and was forced to use drugs.

The girl, with initials B.A., was handed over to Abdülhakim Doğan in the eastern province of Şanlıurfa for 12,000 Turkish Liras, which was paid to the family in two installments. Daily Radikal reported that 40-year-old Doğan has had 38 criminal convictions against his name prior to his recent arrest for raping and forcing porn and drugs on his wife.

After B.A. informed her family about the way she was being treated, her mother and father traveled from Syria to Şanliurfa with a translator where they met with police and reported the crimes that had been inflicted on their daughter.

B.A.’s family explained they had handed their daughter over in a bridewealth exchange to who they thought was a good doctor. “Where we come from, when your daughter turns 12, you can hand her over in a bride wealth exchange. Abdulhakim came to our house and introduced himself as a man of faith who prayed five times a day. This is why we chose him for our daughter,” B.A.’s parents told the police.

According to the parents, they had no idea how their daughter was being treated until they received a phone call from her last week begging for them to come and save her. Following the reports, police carried out an operation at Doğan’s house in Şanlıurfa where B.A. was taken back to her family and Doğan was arrested.

During these investigations in Şanlıurfa, hundreds of other brides from Syria have been found, daily Sabah has reported. According to Sabah, in the Harran and Akçakale regions of Şanlıurfa, “bridewealth” exchanges range from 5,000 to 35,000 liras. In these cases, once a Syrian bride marries in Turkey, she is eligible to apply for Turkish citizenship after three years.