The Reuter Library Report, November 27, 1990
Copyright 1990 Reuters
The Reuter Library Report
November 27, 1990, Tuesday, BC cycle
LENGTH: 210 words
HEADLINE: TURK SAYS HE HACKED SON TO DEATH AS SACRIFICE
DATELINE: ISTANBUL, Nov. 27
BODY:
A man told a court he hacked his three-year-old son to death in a cave
after a religious leader ordered him to sacrifice the most precious
thing in his life.
Ibrahim Halil Altun, who has pleaded guilty to killing his son, said on
Monday the order came from the man he called "my sheikh" and named as
the leader of Turkey's Sunni Moslem Nakshibendi sect.
"My sheikh told me that if one loves his child too much he'll have no
love left for God so I must kill my son. I took my baby boy Abdullah to
a cave and cut him into peices with a knife," Altun told an Istanbul
court.
"My sheikh said he'd later bring the child back if I went to a hilltop
and shouted Abdullah's name three times," he added. "I did so. I did
whatever he asked me to do but my son never came back."
Haci Hasan Fincani, arrested after Altun named him as the leader of the
sect, denied the allegation.
Fincani said the leader was his grandfather, not him, Turkey's Anatolian
news agency said in a report of the hearing.
Fincani said he put up the "Sheikh" sign at his home "to build a name
and earn reputation in town".
(
geocities.com/capitolhill/senate) (
geocities.com/capitolhill)