Turkish man walks free after beating wife to death

Burcu Purtul Uçar – ISTANBUL

Cihan Photo

An Istanbul court has released from prison a man who beat to death his wife, who was undergoing cancer treatment at the time, after serving just one year of his three-year sentence. 

The Bakırköy 13th Court of Serious Crimes had sentenced Celal Eripek, 34, to four years in prison for “causing death by conscious negligence,” but the punishment was reduced to three years and four months due to the convict’s “good behavior” at court. The court has now decided to release Eripek on the grounds that he had already served one year in prison while the trial was continuing. 

According to the indictment prepared by the prosecutor’s office, Eripek beat to death his wife of 17 years - who had been diagnosed with a heart disease and was also undergoing cancer treatment - with a 69-centimeter-long wooden bat. He then beat their 16-year-old daughter Zehra and 15-year-old son Orhan after they tried to stop him at their home in Istanbul’s Bağcılar district on May 2, 2014.

The incident came after Eripek, 34, who was working as a waiter, requested the social support money given to the family by the district governorate. 

His 37-year-old wife was immediately taken to hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries. 

The complainant’s attorney, Züleyha Gülüm, said at court that it was common knowledge that beating a person with a heart disease could trigger a heart attack, and as the husband knew of his wife’s illness he should be sentenced for intentional murder. 

In his testimony, Eripek claimed that he had started arguing with his wife after she refused to iron his clothes. He said he hit her in the back and face and also kicked her but it was his wife who hit her own head against the wall.