ELİF AKGÜL

Istanbul - 28-year-old Ece Kılıçaslan was hospitalized after “falling” from the third-story balcony of a 4-story building in Ümraniye's Esenkent District at around 03:00 am on the night of March 16. Despite the efforts at the hospital, she couldn’t be saved. The testimonies of Ece Kılıçaslan Acar's mother and father were taken at the police station as complainants. In their testimonies, the parents say that they believe their daughter was killed not committed suicide and they filed a complaint against Erol Acar. Thereupon, Erol Acar was taken into custody by the order of the prosecutor's office. After the procedure at the police station, he was taken to Anadolu Courthouse in Istanbul’s Kartal district and released under judicial control.

“My sister fell on her back while holding a cigarette”

Ece Kılıçaslan’s sister Ebru Aydın thinks Erol Acar is the main suspect. “My sister didn’t commit suicide,” she told us.

Speaking to NuJINHA, Ebru Aydın said that her sister had been subjected to violence by Erol Acar but she hadn’t filed a divorce case because Erol Acar had threatened her sister to kill her children.

“I don't think this incident was suicide at all. It is murder. After the incident and went to the hospital and began to shout at Erol. A voice came out from there and said, 'Why are you shouting? He was at work during the incident. They took my sister's 9-year-old daughter's statement to the police station. She had to say, ‘I was watching TV, my mom cooked in a pressure cooker and went out on the balcony to cool down the pressure cooker and she fell down.’ This incident took place at 3 am. My sister always sent her children to sleep before 21.30. I don’t believe my niece was watching TV at 3 am. Then, they told something different. They told me that Erol and my sister smoked in the kitchen at 3 am. They were having coffee. Their 2-year-old daughter began to cry. Erol went to her room and then heard a noise. My sister fell on her back while holding a cigarette. Does a person commit suicide by holding a cigarette?” Ebru Aydın told us.

“She had a restraining order”

On May 22, 2021, Ece Kılıçaslan made a complaint against Erol Acar. In her statement at the police station, she stated that her husband, who is a car washer, had a gun and that she hid the gun in the detergent box. Erol Acar threatened her by saying “You got detergent on my gun”. After that incident, she had a two-month restraining order against Erol Acar and demanded to be placed in a women’s shelter.

“He threatened her to kill her children”

Ebru Aydın told us that her sister hadn’t filed a divorce case for her children.

“She had been subjected to violence for two years. Just a month ago, he hit my sister with a glass. A year ago, my sister wanted to leave home in November. But Erol Acar threatened her to kill her children. Ece made a complaint against him and a restraining order was issued against Erol.”

Cemile Ayfer Gürsel, mother of Ece Kılıçaslan, also doesn’t believe her daughter committed suicide. “My daughter was never a person, who threw herself off the balcony. She had three children. At 3 am, her sister-in-law Raziye Acar called me. She told me ‘why didn’t you take your daughter? They made her fall from the balcony.’ My daughter wasn’t a person who threw herself off the balcony.”

“Most women die by falling from the balcony”

After the incident, We Will Stop Femicide Platform issued a press statement in front of the apartment where the incident took place. Lawyer Işık İlayda made a speech on behalf of the platform. “Today, we are here for Ece Kılıçaslan. Our sister was killed here, by falling from the balcony. She died suspiciously. We stand with all women. No death will remain suspicious. We will always keep struggling. The man’s family doesn’t allow us to issue the statement in front of the apartment. But they should know that we are here, we will be here and we will always be with all women.”

According to the “2021 Annual Data Report” released by We Will Stop Femicide Platform, in Turkey, 280 women were killed by men, 217 more died under suspicious circumstances in 2021.