Istanbul: A Turkish man sentenced to 15 years in jail by southeast Turkey court for shooting his ex-girlfriend in the head after she rose to prominence in a nationwide talent show.
The victim Mutlu Kaya, spent a month in a coma and was subsequently confined to a wheelchair after the incident. She became a symbol of violence against women in Turkey, particularly in the Kurdish-dominated southeast.
Veysi Ercan, 26, tried to kill Kaya, 19, by shooting through the windows of her home. During the interrogation he said he had randomly shot through the windows in anger after Kaya had insulted him. Ercan insisted that he hit her was an accident.
Prosecutors, argued that Ercan had been unable to accept Kaya’s success in the talent show and as a result had fired four shots into her home with the aim of killing her. Kaya was talented and had been mentored by Sibel Can, one of Turkey’s best-known folk-pop singers.
South-east Turkey is known for its strongly conservative values. In 2015 at least 290 women were murdered and 103 in this year. Kaya who was appearing on the show Sesi Çok Güzel, similar to Britain’s Got Talent, on the Fox channel, got the death threats for appearing on the show.