Decision against the nurse who committed violence against the baby in the incubator

The incident took place in the neonatal intensive care unit of Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University Health Practice and Research Hospital in 2021. Deniz Esin Bozoklar, the daughter of Abdullah-Sema Bozoklar couple who was born at a low weight, was taken into an incubator. On May 26, 2021, while Hazel Dırık Bağrıyanık, the nurse on duty, was trying to take blood, the baby became cranky.

Thereupon, Bağrıyanık started hitting Deniz Esin Bozoklar. During the 14-minute blood procedure, Bağrıyanık frequently hit the baby's head and squeezed his leg, and allegedly broke the baby's leg in the process. Those moments were also recorded by the security camera.

The violence against the baby was noticed by another nurse 5 days later, on May 31, 2021. Thereupon, the hospital terminated Hazel Dırık Bağrıyanık's contract, and at the end of the judicial investigation, a lawsuit was filed in the Kahramanmaraş 10th Criminal Court of First Instance, demanding up to 3 years of imprisonment for intentional injury.

The decision was made at the 15th hearing of the case. While the lawyers of the parties attended the hearing, Hazel Dırık Bağrıyanık was connected to the courtroom via the SEGBİS system from the prison where she was detained. Bağrıyanık said that he repeated his previous defenses and requested his acquittal.

Then the public prosecutor gave his opinion on the merits. In his opinion, the prosecutor stated that when the camera records, forensic reports and the scope of the file were evaluated together, it was determined that Hazel Dırık Bağrıyanık had committed the crime of intentional wounding, therefore she should be sentenced to 3 years in prison. He requested that the sentence be increased because he committed the crime by abusing his public office, with a gun, against a person who could not defend himself physically and mentally, and as a result, a bone fracture occurred.

"I APOLOGIZE TO HIS FAMILY AND THE TURKISH NATION"

Hazel Dırık Bağrıyanık stated that she did not accept the opinion and said that there was no causal link between Deniz Esin Bozoklar's disability and her action in the reports. Bağrıyanık said, "First of all, I am very sorry for what I did and this regret will continue for a lifetime. I apologize to Deniz Esin Bozoklar, her family, my own family, my colleagues and the Turkish nation for what I did. Believe me, I do not know how I committed this action. My only purpose was to draw blood from the baby. I have been detained for 10 months. I have also served the sentence requested by the prosecutor. Therefore, I request my acquittal and release."

THE JUDGE DID NOT MAKE A DISCRETION

At the end of the hearing, the judge sentenced Hazel Dırık Bağrıyanık to 5 years and 10 years in prison for the crime of "deliberately injuring a person who cannot defend himself physically or mentally by abusing his public office, causing a bone fracture." While the judge did not reduce the sentence on the grounds that the defendant's sincere and serious remorse could not be detected, he also decided to continue Hazel Dırık Bağrıyanık's detention.