An 80-year-old woman in Turkey risks spending over 4 years behind bars for hitting her 18-year-old granddaughter on the arm with a house slipper during an argument.
Asiye Kaytan lives with her granddaughter, Vural, in the Topraklık neighborhood of Denizli, in Southwestern Turkey. Ever since the girl’s parents split up, the 80-year-old woman has been trying to protect her, sometimes even from herself. Last year, on August 9th, after Vural came back from work, she told her grandmother that she was going out with some friends. Fearing for her safety, the old woman said she wouldn’t allow it and even locked the door to make sure Vural couldn’t go out. At one point during their argument, the young woman tried to unlock the door, and Kaytan grabbed one of her house slippers and slapped her on the arm with it. Vural instinctively retaliated by hitting her grandmother on the head with her phone. Kaytan started bleeding, and the frightened girl forgot all about partying and called an ambulance. Little did they know that what started as a family feud would eventually turn into an international news story.
Photo: Philippe Jausions/Unsplash
“My granddaughter wanted to go out in the evening, I did not allow it, I locked the door,” Kaytan told Sabah News. “I hit her on the hand with the slipper, and she hit me on the head with her phone. When I started bleeding, she got scared and called an ambulance.”
Kaytan and her granddaughter never filed complaints against each other, but they did tell first responders how the elderly woman got her head injury, and they filed a report at Denizli State Hospital, which was later forwarded to the local police. Both women were called in for questioning, and despite making it clear that they had settled their dispute and were on good terms, a public case was opened, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against the 80-year-old grandmother.
In their case, the prosecution alleged that the slipper Kaytan used to hit her granddaughter was a weapon and the 18-year-old acted in self-defense when she hit the woman with her phone. The octogenarian was also accused of ‘depriving a person of their liberty’ because she locked Vural inside her home and prevented her from leaving, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
On February 25th, the 12th Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced Asiye Kaytan to 2 years and 6 months in prison for the crime of ‘depriving a person of their liberty by using force, threat, or deception,’ and an added 2 years and 6 months for using a “weapon” to carry out the crime against her granddaughter. The sentence was eventually reduced to 4 years and 2 months, but Kaytan’s lawyer appealed the decision. If the original sentence is upheld by the Court of Appeals, she will go to prison.
“Am I going to prison at age 80? How will I live there? I have had surgery, and I walk with difficulty. They will put me in prison because of a house slipper,” the old woman lamented.” No one should hit their child with a slipper because it is considered a weapon. I had no idea a slipper was a weapon.”
“My grandmother received a prison sentence because she hit me with a slipper and prevented me from leaving the house. I did not want it to be this way. I did not file a complaint against her, but a public case was opened,” Asiye Vural explained.
Hasan Ozan Orpak, Kaytan’s lawyer, said that there was another case in Denizli regarding a mother’s slipper being considered a weapon, which may be considered a legal precedent, but he is confident that the charges against his client will be dropped during the appeal process.
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