Court's "Expert" Says Women Must Marry to Stave Off Destitution

türkçe  links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 1 February 2021)

                  She's got three years to find a husband.      

Construction worker Halit Balıcak (49) fell from a building in Ümraniye,

Istanbul, on 27 November 2019 and died in a hospital three days later.

The court sentenced the construction managers - Levent Öztok, Sırrı 

Çurgotay and Nurettin Uğur Avcı - to 3.5 years in jail for negligent 

homicide.  With a reduction, their sentences dropped to  a little less

than 3 years each, but the jail time was converted to fines of 21,200 TL

(about $3,000) each. (!)

The Balıcak family filed a compensation suit against the company after

the criminal trial concluded.  Saying she was now without any support,

widow Rukiye Balıcak asked for 1,110,000 TL and 1,070,00 for each

of her children, Canan and Kadir Balıcak. 

Defendant Nurettin Uğur Avcı asserted that Halit Balıcak did not have

a dangerous job at the construction site and that he simply lost his 

balance and fell on his head, while not wearing a helmet.  The court

decided to summon a "bilirkişi" (expert witness) to examine the case. 

                                                 R.I.P.

In the "bilirkişi" report it was stated that since the average age of 

marriage for girls in Istanbul is 25, the 22-year-old bachelorette 

Canan Balıcak will likely only be without support for three years.  

Consequently, Canan hanım deserved just 14,000 TL.  

With regard to Rukiye hanım, the "bilirkişi" determined that at age 

47 she has 26 years to live and she has the chance to re-marry, too,

although that chance is only about 2%.  So the "bilirkişi" calculated

that Rukiye hanım's compensation should be 154,000 TL.  Her son 

Kadir should receive 42,000 TL, based on the current minimum wage.

The Balıcak family's lawyers have objected to the "bilirkişi" report

and asked that the compensation be recalculated.  Reacting to the 

report, Canan hanım said that "our pain is undiminished. The 

defendants merely had to pay 21,000 TL fines.  Now in the civil

suit the "bilirkişi" envisions me getting married at 25!  After my

father died, our lives were turned upside down.  My mother has 

started to work, my brother is going to school and I'm unemployed.

How am I going to get married in three years?!  The "bilirkişi"

says, as well, that my mother may get married again, right after 

she's lost her husband!   We're not all that concerned about the

amount of the compensation but we want those responsible

punished."