Hediye Demirel’s family had decided a week ago that she was to be engaged to Talat Demirel, her uncle’s grandson, even though she was unwilling. The families agreed to hold an engagement ceremony on Saturday evening. The events leading to the alleged suicides started some hours before the ceremony when Talat Demirel found a mobile phone SIM card wrapped in a tissue, which had been left by ex-boyfriend Bülent Süer, on his car’s windshield wiper. The fiancé saw nude photographs of Hediye Demirel after inserting the card in his telephone.After angrily returning to the woman’s apartment where the ceremony was to take place, Talat Demirel talked to his family and called off the engagement which sparked a dispute between the families. Hediye Demirel’s elder brother and stepmother asked her to explain who took the photos and how.
At about 5 a.m. after hours of dispute, Hediye Demirel jumped off the fifth story of the building and her twin, Kadriye, jumped to her death a few seconds later. Five minutes later, the family members calmly left the building. Hediye died at the scene of the incident and was taken to Diyarbakır State Hospital. Kadriye was hospitalized at Dicle University’s Medical Faculty Hospital in Diyarbakır but could not be revived despite doctors’ efforts. An autopsy revealed that Hediye’s body had been bruised before her death.
The Diyarbakır Police Department launched an investigation into the incident and detained a total of 30 people from the Demirel family, including those residing in another district of the province, over concerns that the alleged suicides were part of an honor killing. The relatives were reportedly released after testifying on Monday.
The twins were buried at a cemetery in their village in Diyarbakır following a funeral service on Sunday.
