Honored Martyr's Story
One month before her death, Aleyna’s boyfriend Ümitcan Uygun broke into her home and beat her nearly to death. He told her on that occasion as well as others “I will kill you.” Aleyna and a friend reported this incident to the police to no avail. Approximately one month later, Aleyna’s body was found dead in her home. Uygun was taken in for questioning and quickly released. When human rights groups demanded further investigation and leaked video and images of his violence, he went into hiding. Shortly after, his mother, Gülay Uygun was found dead with a gunshot to the head, believed to have been suicide. After the death of Gülay, state backed media pundits and writers began an aggressive campaign to blame her death on the human rights activists, spotlighting the pain and tears of Ümitcan Uygun while drowning out the story of Aleyna.