The trial of the young woman who wrapped her newborn baby in a garbage bag and left it next to the garbage container after giving birth in the toilet in Kastamonu started.
The incident occurred on November 2, 2023 on Karadut Street in Kuzeykent Neighborhood of Kastamonu city center. According to the information obtained, citizens found a baby wrapped in a garbage bag next to the garbage container. After the first intervention by the health teams at Kastamonu Training and Research Hospital, the newborn baby was resuscitated. As a result of the studies carried out by Kastamonu Provincial Security Directorate teams after the incident, it was determined that the mother of the baby found in the garbage was Cansu Ç. Cansu Ç., who gave birth in the toilet without her family’s knowledge, was arrested. It is learned that the baby under treatment regained his health after his treatment in Ankara.
Kastamonu Heavy Penal Court started to hear the case against Cansu Ç. (18) on the charge of “killing a close relative who cannot defend herself”. Cansu Ç. attended the hearing via SEGBİS from the prison where she was arrested and made her defense.
Stating that she hid the fact that she was pregnant from her family, Cansu Ç. said, “I thought my child was stillborn. I waited for 10 minutes when she was born. She never moved. My family did not realize I was pregnant. My abdomen was slightly swollen. I gave birth in the toilet. My periods were painful, so I didn’t shout while giving birth. My father is mentally disabled, I put the child in a garbage bag and gave it to him. The mouth of the bag was open, my father may have closed the bag when he went out. I was covered in blood while giving birth. I took off my clothes, wrapped the child in the clothes I was wearing and gave them to my father. The father said, ‘there was garbage in the house’ and I told him to throw them in the garbage, so he went and threw them in the garbage.”
Noting that she gave birth by watching birth videos on the internet, the defendant said, “If she had been born alive, I would have told my family. If my mother had seen the child born, I thought they would have done something at that time. I was engaged to Ercan at the time, but the child was Kenan’s. I called Kenan and told him I had a miscarriage. I didn’t tell him the child was born. He was pressuring me and insulting me. I was only 14 when I met Kenan. He wanted to abort the child. I didn’t let him. I wanted to marry Ercan right away and raise my child in a healthy way. I want to be tried from outside. I want my release. I regret everything. I love my child very much, I want to see him/her.”
Kenan G. (40), the father of the child, who was heard as a witness in the hearing, said, “We met in Azdavay in 2022. At the beginning of April last year, I learned that Cansu was pregnant. Cansu told me that she could not menstruate. So I went to the pharmacy and bought a birth test and we found out that she was pregnant. In July last year, I went to prison as a result of a fight. I stayed in prison for 2 months. Then she told me that the child had fallen. After that, we didn’t meet again. She told me, ‘I will raise this child even if you are not here’. I don’t think Cansu consciously left the child in the garbage. She might have been scared of her family, she told me that the child was stillborn and she threw it in the garbage in panic.”
“Usually Cansu wore loose clothing, her pregnancy was not obvious”
Ercan K., Cansu Ç.’s ex-fiancé, who was heard as a witness in the hearing, said: “We got engaged in April last year. Cansu Ç. was pregnant at that time. I was not aware of the birth process. She was usually wearing loose clothes, her pregnancy was not visible. If I had known that she was having an affair with someone else, I would not have asked her. I was trying to convince the families to bring our wedding earlier. I never knew about Cansu’s pregnancy or the child.”
Cansu Ç.’s mother Halime Ç. withdrew as a witness.
The court decided to continue detention of Cansu Ç. and adjourned the trial to a later date.
Source: İHA
