Allegations of abuse and battery at an IMM nursery

According to the allegations, a family of four residing in the Güzeltepe neighborhood of Eyüpsultan district sent their 3-year-old child, U.B., to the 'Yuvamız İstanbul' daycare center belonging to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, located in the same neighborhood. The family rushed to the daycare after discovering bruises on their 3-year-old child's body upon returning home from the facility last December. Suspecting that their child might have been abused, the family wanted to speak with the officials at the daycare and requested the security camera footage. Initially, the daycare management did not provide the footage to the family and denied the accusations made against them. Following this, the family went to the police station and filed a complaint against the staff at the daycare.

"We have filed a new criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office for the sexual abuse file"

The mother stated that the teachers at the daycare had coached her son, saying, "I went to pick up my son from school at 5:00 PM. Afterward, the assistant teacher brought my son to me and said, 'There is something here.' That was the sentence. I asked what it was, and when I opened it, a part of the child's body was bruised black and blue. I asked what happened, and he said, 'Mom, it happened in Silivri.' We had last been to Silivri 7 months ago. I asked, 'My son, what happened?' He said, 'Let me think.' They had coached him inside. I asked his teacher. The teacher said, 'I wasn't at school.' Following that, in the panic of that moment, I immediately took my son; no explanation was given there," she said.

The mother, claiming that her child was beaten by the teacher at the daycare, said, "We filed a criminal complaint with the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, and then we went to the headquarters of Yuvamız İstanbul. We met with the highest-ranking people at the headquarters and showed them the photo of the child. We told them that our child had been beaten at school, that no one knew about this, that we wanted this matter resolved, and that we had filed a criminal complaint. The officials there told us that we had such a right, saying, 'Of course, you can file a criminal complaint, let the culprits be revealed, you pursue your own case, and we will conduct our own investigation internally.' We said we wanted to watch the footage on December 2 and wrote a petition to the institution. About 20 days later, meanwhile, while my son was at home on the 2nd of the month in the morning, he said, 'The teacher grabbed and squeezed this part, the teacher grabbed and threw me to the ground.' For this reason, we filed a new criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office this time for the sexual abuse file. We do not accept these in any way, and all of these are true. If necessary, we want an investigation by TÜBİTAK. These are places without oversight. We want the Ministry to inspect these places. Even though my husband went to the IMM headquarters multiple times, they did not resolve the incident in any way; the teachers continued to work there," she expressed.

"I trust the Turkish justice system"

The father said, "Everyone should put their hand on their conscience and focus on the children above all else. I will go to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary, I will do everything, but I trust the supreme Turkish justice system."

The family stated that they have filed a criminal complaint against the school principal B.Z., the classroom teacher E.Ö., the assistant teacher, and the sports teacher. The family, claiming that the IMM administration is trying to cover up the incident, demanded that those responsible receive the harshest punishment. Meanwhile, it was learned that the daycare continues to operate.

Governor's Office: "An investigation has been opened, and the administrative and judicial process is being followed"

In a statement made by the Istanbul Governor's Office regarding the subject, it was said, "News and reports have been published in various media outlets regarding allegations of battery and abuse of children at the daycare operating in our Eyüpsultan District under the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. An investigation has been opened by our Governor's Office regarding the subject, and the administrative and judicial process is being followed."

A statement regarding the matter also came from the IMM.