A Turkish man has been condemned to life in jail for tossing his pregnant wife down a cliff in order to collect her life insurance policy.
Hakan Aysal, 41, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of shoving his seven-months-pregnant wife, 32-year-old Semra Aysal, down a cliff while on holiday in southern Turkey in June.
Officials suspect Aysal enticed his wife to the cliff’s edge by coaxing her to snap a picture before shoving her off.
Officials say Aysal attempted to cash in on a $25,000 life insurance policy he had taken out before the crime after his wife was killed by the fall off the 1,000-foot cliff, however he was stopped by a police investigation.
Aysal first asserted he was innocent, however he made a last-minute insanity plea, which the Fethiye High Criminal Court heard but denied.
Witnesses to the killing and family members of the couple stated Aysal’s calm manner after the occurrence raised concerns that the death was premeditated.
When they drove to the Forensic Medicine Institute to fetch the corpse, Hakan was in the car,” the victim’s older brother, Naim Yolcu, testified in court. Her family and he had been devastated, yet Hakan didn’t even seem upset.
Her sister was always opposed to taking out loans,” Yolcu explained. But, when she died, they discovered she had debts taken out on her sister’s name by Hakan.
Aysal will have to serve thirty years in jail before being eligible for parole.
According to the New York Post, femicide is becoming a more serious issue in Turkey, and the Stockholm Center for Freedom noted this year that 246 women have been killed in Turkey in 2022.
