A Turkish court has ordered the detention of a man following the death of his pregnant Sudanese wife, who fell from the fourth floor of an apartment building while allegedly attempting to escape domestic violence in the northwestern city of Bursa.
Ekram Hassan Adam Khalil, 35, who was seven months pregnant and the mother of a three-year-old girl, died after falling into the garden of an apartment building in Bursa’s Nilüfer district shortly after midnight on August 2.
Turkish investigators believe Khalil attempted to jump from a bedroom window to the balcony of a neighbouring building after becoming frightened during an argument with her husband, Ferdi Solak, 37. She fell before reaching the opposite balcony and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Solak was initially detained by police and was later remanded in custody on accusations of intentionally causing death and encouraging suicide. Turkish media reported that he had 29 previous criminal records.
According to accounts given to investigators, neighbours heard an argument shortly before Khalil fell. One witness reportedly saw Solak holding the couple’s three-year-old daughter over the edge of the building’s terrace, prompting residents to try to enter the locked apartment.
Neighbours also alleged that the couple frequently argued and that Solak had previously chased his wife with a knife. These claims remain part of the continuing investigation.
Khalil had sought protection from Turkey’s Violence Prevention and Monitoring Centre on June 1 following an earlier dispute involving alleged threats and insults. She stayed at a women’s shelter before leaving voluntarily and returning home on July 8.
Solak reportedly told police that he used thinner as an intoxicant and that this had repeatedly caused arguments between the couple. He claimed Khalil climbed onto the bedroom window and jumped following their latest dispute.
Khalil’s body was taken to the Bursa Forensic Medicine Institute for an autopsy. Turkish media reported that arrangements were being made to return her body to Sudan for burial.
The investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death remains underway.
