Neighbor abuse in Kepez: The painful story of a mentally disabled girl

A mentally disabled child living in Antalya has brought a sickening truth to light after recounting an incident to her family. The family, living in an apartment building in the Kepez district, experienced a living hell upon hearing what had happened to their daughter. While the Georgian national T.V. and her husband M.T., who works at an auto repair shop, were at work, their neighbor, auto body repairman Ecder Tayfun Polat, went to the couple's home.

RAPED A MENTALLY DISABLED CHILD

Polat turned off the building's electrical breaker, and after the couple left, he took their 16-year-old mentally disabled daughter, K.V., to his own workplace. Polat abused the girl there.

ABUSIVE NEIGHBOR ARRESTED

The mentally disabled child, who was subjected to abuse, disclosed the attack she experienced on August 22 to her family months later. Following the girl's account, her family filed a complaint against Polat. Polat was taken into custody following the complaint and was subsequently arrested.

"HE WAS BREAKING OUR CAMERAS"

M.T. stated that he had worked at the same workplace as the suspect for a short time, saying, "While I was at work, he told me that the apartment next to theirs was empty. I rented it. Later, some hostilities arose between us. He broke the cameras I had installed in the apartment building. Because my daughter has a heart condition, I constantly watch her through the camera. On August 22, I couldn't turn on the camera. I waited for an hour, it still didn't open. I called my child, and she said, 'Dad, there is no electricity in the house.' I called our neighbor upstairs and asked him. He said there was electricity. I asked him to check the breakers; he went down and turned our breaker back on.

"HE HAD HARASSED MY DAUGHTER BEFORE"

Ten minutes later, the electricity went out again. This time, my daughter went outside. When she went out, she saw Ecder Tayfun Polat. She asked him who had turned off the electricity, and he said, 'I turned it off, I was waiting for you.' He took the child to the auto body shop next to the house. He had previously taken her to his own home and harassed her. He held a knife to her and threatened her so she wouldn't tell anyone. After the incident, the child cried and told me everything. Later, we went to the child protection bureau and filed a complaint."

'SHE COULD NOT DISCLOSE THE SITUATION TO HER FAMILY BECAUSE SHE WAS THREATENED'

The family's lawyer, Tolga Alp Kocaoğlu, stated, "Although our child is 16 years old, we have a report stating that her mental age is the same as an 8-9-year-old child. In other words, the child is in a position where she cannot defend herself. As reflected in the indictment, she could not disclose the situation to her mother and father because she was threatened with death by a knife. The abuse continued for a long time. We want the arrested abuser, whose trial process is ongoing at the Antalya 1st High Criminal Court, to receive the heaviest sentence."

'I ACTED AS A MOTHER TO HIS CHILDREN, HE ABUSED MY DAUGHTER'

Mother T.V. stated that she had looked after the abusive neighbor's child, saying, "I looked after his child for 3 months. I acted as a mother to her, I sang her lullabies. We have been there for 6 years. I was working during the incident. After we filed the complaint, he came and threatened us. He said, 'I won't let you live.' I think it is a sin for such a person to live. I want him to receive the maximum sentence. I wouldn't want this to happen to other children; what would he do if it were his daughter instead of mine? I acted as a mother to his children, and he abused my daughter."