Burned body of Syrian woman found on roadside in southeast Turkey

The body of a 38-year-old Syrian woman named Futem Alhamadi was found burned on the side of a highway in southeastern Turkey, local agencies reported on March 15. Meanwhile, a domestic violence survivor named Melek İpek who killed her husband testified in court, saying that her husband used to beat her for dreaming that she left him.

A sign reads "Attention! There's a plague of femicides in this country!" (right) and another one "Prevent femicides, not divorces!"

Duvar English

The body of a 38-year-old Syrian woman named Futem Alhamadi was found burned on the side of a highway in southeastern Turkey's Şanlıurfa, Turkish agencies reported on March 15. 

An initial forensic examination revealed that Alhamadi's killed by burning, and police officers launched an investigation into her death. 

Meanwhile, in nearby Mardin, 25-year-old Gülbahar Asabay was fatally shot by her brother in the middle of a street in the Nusaybin district. 

The mother of one, Asabay was reported to have left her husband recently after an argument, and had moved into her parents' home, near which the murder took place.

Femicides in Turkey have risen to the level of a plague, with dozens of women being slaughtered by men each month, and a dozen more dying under suspicious conditions. 

Turkey's We Will Stop Femicides Platform reported that 28 women were killed by men in February, and 12 women died under suspicious conditions.

'He beat me when he dreamt I left him'

Separately, in Mediterranean Antalya, Melek İpek testified for the first time in court, where she faces a life sentence for killing her husband in self-defense after he had tortured her for hours.

İpek had called the police immediately after shooting Ramazan İpek on Jan. 7, and was taken into custody despite visible evidence that she had suffered immense physical trauma from her husband.

The couple had met when Melek İpek was a high school sophomore, and Ramazan İpek terrorized the minor to force her to stay with him, the survivor said in her court statement.

Ramazan İpek was violent with Melek İpek since the start of their acquaintance, she said, and continued to assault her during their marriage, at times risking the physical well-being of their kids. 

On the night when Melek İpek killed her husband, he had told her that he wanted a divorce, but proceeded to threaten to shoot her at gunpoint in their kids' bedroom.

Ramazan İpek shot at Melek İpek but missed, she said, even though he continued to brutalize the entire family for the whole night before leaving for work in the morning, saying that he would kill all of them when he returned.