My autistic child, who has been subjected to violence, has chilling words for their mother: "I have so much to tell, but I can't express it."

In a private care home in Büyükçekmece, it was claimed that videos of violence against 7-year-old autistic Bahar B. spread on social media. Nurcan Bayram, the mother who filed a complaint against the institution, which is also being investigated by the Ministry of Family and Social Services, said, "They call it a care home, but it is literally a house of horrors. I want not only Bahar but also others like her to be saved as soon as possible."

The moments when the care center staff allegedly abused 7-year-old Bahar B. became a topic of discussion after they spread on social media. On Sunday, September 15, it was claimed that care staff B. Y. and health staff G. B. T. tied Bahar B.'s hands and feet to prevent her from harming herself. F. B., one of the care home employees, recorded these moments with a mobile phone and shared them. Following the spread of the incident, the Ministry of Family and Social Services initiated an investigation into the institution.

Nurcan Bayram, the mother of Bahar B., who stated that her daughter had been in the care center for about a year, said, "I saw the footage early in the morning and learned about it. I was really shocked as soon as I saw it; I wasn't expecting it. I don't have anything else to say but may they find their God. They call it a care home, but it is literally a house of horrors; I emphasize, a house of horrors. I want not only Bahar but also others like her to be saved as soon as possible. I want to be their voice. I want to tell more, but I can't. I had to give Bahar up because I couldn't take care of her; I don't have my own house or a stable life. If I had my own house and stability, I would have taken Bahar with me. My daughter is 62% disabled, autistic, has epilepsy, and is hearing impaired," she said.

"WE WERE AWARE THAT SOMETHING WAS HAPPENING"

Bahar B.'s cousin, Dilan Bayram, who closely followed her care process, stated that they had previously filed complaints against the institution, saying, "Bahar had been there since August 30, 2023, until two days ago. No treatment was started; only her care was taken over. Previously, she was already receiving special treatments, and we submitted petitions to the necessary places for this, but we hadn't reached that stage yet. We were already aware that Bahar was experiencing something. Because we had the chance to see her 2 or 3 times a month, we faced different reactions every time we went. We have dated and timed photos of these. We were suspicious and reported this to the institution. Of course, the institution was taking the easy way out. For the first month, during the time we gave Bahar, we were not allowed to see her. This was to prevent the child from having adaptation issues. We accepted this naturally because everything was being done for Bahar. After a month, when we wanted to come and see her at weekly intervals, we were told that Bahar was getting used to it and could not adapt to the adjustment process. Therefore, we started to see Bahar every 10 to 15 days. As I said, we have complaints based on what we saw, and we also have complaints in CİMER. We were suspicious of something, and we constantly shared this with the institution. When we expressed this to the institution, we did not get any results, and since we did not get results, we started to apply to certain authorities according to our own criteria," she said.

"THEY TRIED TO GIVE THE IMPRESSION OF HARSH INTERVENTION"

After the incident spread on social media, the lawyer of the private care center, Beytullah Duymaz, stated, "In a 19-second video broadcast by some media outlets, while the care staff B. Y. and health staff G. B. T. were stabilizing Bahar B. during a crisis attack to prevent her from harming herself, an impression was created that the staff were intervening harshly with the disabled individual," he said.

"OUR CASE WILL CONTINUE FOR OTHER 95 BAHAR AND TIMUÇİN"

Dilan Bayram stated that the institution's and the lawyer's statements contradicted each other, saying, "I also saw it on social media two days ago. I was shocked as soon as I saw it; it turned out we were right in our thoughts. Apparently, this child was subjected to such treatment. As soon as I saw it, we went to the institution and took the child with us. Complaints have been made against both the institution and the staff. When we went to the institution to try to take Bahar, the officials there blamed the staff. Such a thing is absolutely unacceptable; the actions and behaviors were said to be wrong to us. Less than a day, 24 hours later, we read the statement. What they told us was completely contradictory. I do not accept this statement. Therefore, there is definitely no sincerity to be sought in what was said to us. And many images exist that I am sure will be presented with the prosecutor's decision in the future. This issue will not be closed like this; we will definitely go to the end. Not only for Bahar but also for the other 95 Bahar, as my aunt said, and for the deceased Hüseyin Timuçin, our case will continue. We are not afraid of anything we can do," she said.

IT WAS ALLEGED THAT A 17-YEAR-OLD CHILD DIED OF HUNGER

On the other hand, it was claimed in some social media posts that 17-year-old Hüseyin Timuçin, who received support at the same care center last January, died of hunger. The lawyer of the private care center, Beytullah Duymaz, also stated regarding this issue, "The disabled individual Hüseyin Timuçin passed away 1 year and 9 months ago, on January 25, 2023. He stayed in our institution for a total of 25 days. During this process, the family was informed and he was repeatedly taken to the hospital for treatment. When the disabled individual came to the institution, it was noted that he had the specified wounds, which are present in the acceptance document of the institution with the family's acknowledgment and signature.

The forensic report regarding the person's death clearly states the cause of death, contrary to the claims made. There is no document or statement anywhere indicating that the death was due to starvation," he stated.

Lawyer Rengin Geçen, who is also involved in the case regarding the death of disabled Hüseyin Timuçin, said, "After our case was reflected in the media, I was contacted by some families. Bahar is one of them. We obtained a report of assault regarding Bahar. Then we also filed a complaint at the police station. We are waiting for the collection of documents and for our complaint to continue. In the last week, many families have reached out to me. Some of them wanted to go and take their children in the middle of the night. Indeed, Bahar is one of the children taken. Each of the families says that their children have marks of assault on their bodies. I have spoken with all these families, and they have all obtained assault reports for their children. They will also file complaints in the next process," she said.

Lawyer Geçen alleged that the staff of the institution made fake comments on the internet site, stating, "First of all, all personnel working in this institution need to have their statements taken. Then, an investigation and subsequent prosecution should be conducted against any staff member who has specifically committed violence against children. It also needs to be investigated whether the owner of the institution is aware of this mentioned violence. We are following the process. I will continue the fight not only for my client Hüseyin but also for Bahar and the other children. In fact, this incident came to light so much after the death of our child. We had filed a complaint back then, but the prosecutor's office had decided that there was no basis for prosecution. The reason for this was insufficient evidence. Now we have more evidence. We hope that the prosecution will be opened as soon as possible. When we look at some websites, there are already many complaints about the institution even before our case with Hüseyin. In addition, there are also good comments about the institution on the internet sites. However, when we investigated these, we found that the people working in the institution were making good comments as if they were bot accounts. All their names and surnames are available. Therefore, there was already a continuing complaint process before our case. However, after the news, many families reached out to me, each of them went and took their children and filed complaints," she stated.