"Unfair and provocative" TV appearances reduce murder sentence
Güncelleme Tarihi:
A judge ruling on the murder of 32 year old Nermin Ardic, who was shot by her father, Ersin Kaygas, after Ardic twice appeared on daytime television in Turkey and accused Kaygas of having raped her repeatedly, has reduced Kaygas' sentence on the grounds that he was "unfairly provoked" by Ardic's television appearances. Though Kaygas was originally a candidate for life sentencing, the judge in the case reduced his sentence to 15 years.
Nermin Ardic's appearance on popular TV host Ayse Ozgun's talk show took place in November 2005. Wearing a wig and sunglasses, she related to viewers how Ersin Kaygas, her supposed father, had raped her repeatedly when she was younger. She then also asserted on TV that Kaygas was not her real father, and that DNA tests would prove this. Ardic had made these same claims earlier in the year, also while wearing a wig and sunglasses, on another daytime TV program.
Following Nermin Ardic's widely viewed allegations however, Ersin Kaygas located her home near Catalca, and shot the 32 year old Ardic as she fed her dog in her garden. Asserting that in fact Nermin Ardic was his real daughter, Kaygas explained following the murder:
"My daughter ran away with a married man. That is why we were not speaking. She was only speaking with her mother....I had heard after that that she had said bad things about me on Derya Tuna's program. But I went crazy after she repeated these things on TV again. I found her trail, and I shot her."
The trial for the murder of Nermin Ardic took place at Istanbul's Bakirkoy Criminal Court this week, with Ersin Kaygas logging these words before sentencing: "I will respect whatever decision is made. My daughter toyed with my honor. I cannot say anything else."
In the end, the Bakirkoy court decided that Kaygas had committed his murder under heavy provocation, and that as such, his life sentence should be reduced to 15 years.