Turkish principal allegedly forces 17-year-old student to change clothes at his office

Duvar English

A high school principal in the Central Anatolian province of Çankırı is alleged to have instructed a 17-year-old student to change her clothes at his office, according to reporting by Free Web Turkey.  

On June 14, one of Çankırı’s local newspapers named Sözcü18 released a report saying that the school principal Abdullah Cengiz summoned a 12th-grade student and told her that she was wearing “old” clothes. The principal Cengiz reportedly gave the girl “new clothes” and asked her to wear them in his room where there was a security camera.

In the news report titled “Scandal instruction from Principal Cengiz to a student: Go and get changed in my room!” Cengiz reportedly did not accept the student’s answer that she would come to the school wearing “the new clothes tomorrow.” Cengiz reportedly told the student, “No! Not today! Now, go to my room and get changed.”

Upon this instruction, the 12th grader went to Cengiz’s room and got changed but noticed a security camera there. She notified her parents of this situation which led the police to intervene. “In the analysis undertaken with the intervention of the police, it was alleged that the camera was not working and the case has been closed,” the relevant news report said.

On the day that the news report was published, principal Cengiz filed an application with Çankırı Penal Court of Peace and demanded an access ban on the allegations of “violation of personal rights.” The court approved of Cengiz’s demand and banned access to the relevant news report of Sözcü18.

The newspaper shared the court’s decision on its website and said that the 17-year-old student had transferred her enrollment to another high school.

Meanwhile, the Çankırı Governor’s Office also announced that it launched an investigation into the allegations about the school principal.

Number of child sexual abuse cases increases by 33 percent in 2022 in TurkeyHuman Rights

Over 16,000 people convicted of child sex abuse last year in TurkeyHuman Rights