A man has been arrested after a pregnant woman fell from a balcony in the Turkish city of Bursa. Police took into custody a 37-year-old man following the death of Ekram Hassan, a 35-year-old pregnant woman who fell from her family home in the city in the northwest of the country.
Ekram was reportedly seven months into her pregnancy when she fell from her family's residence at around midnight on Durmus Street in the Ucevler neighbourhood in the Nilufer district. Emergency responders rushed to the scene after Ekram's fall, which caused severe injuries, but discovered the foreign national had already passed away.
Husband detained
In the wake of her death earlier this week, her husband, aged 37, has been detained by authorities and placed in custody. He was also reportedly arrested on suspicion of substance misuse.
Local news outlet IHA reports that forensic investigators attended the scene and examined both the interior and exterior of the property. Authorities are said to be exploring all potential scenarios surrounding the circumstances and events leading to Ekram's fatal fall.
Investigation underway
Ekram's body was subsequently transported to the Bursa Forensic Medicine Institute for a post-mortem examination to determine the precise cause of death, reports the Irish Mirror.
Meanwhile, Ekram's mother-in-law has issued a public statement regarding the tragedy, expressing her deep affection for her daughter-in-law and the profound impact she had on her life. She said: "I loved you not as my daughter-in-law, but as my daughter."
Femicide concerns in Turkey
Ekram's tragic passing comes amid mounting concern over the number of women dying in Turkey, with the campaign group 'We Will Stop Femicide' working to monitor fatalities across the country.
According to Le Parisien, the organisation reports that 215 women were found dead or killed during the first seven months of 2026. These statistics come years after Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention in July 2021.
The Istanbul Convention mandated that investigations must follow any violent death of a woman. Concerns surrounding femicide rates in the country continue to grow, while Turkish authorities do not release official statistics on such deaths.
This leaves vital data collection in the hands of campaign groups like 'We Will Stop Femicide'. The organisation records that 294 women lost their lives at the hands of men in 2025, with an additional 297 deaths deemed "suspicious".
Campaigners have said that while changes would help, such as the point at which autopsies begin, it would not make much difference given the actions government officials can take later.
Speaking to the Guardian about the matter, women's rights campaigner and doctor Gulsum Kav said: "Autopsies start at the crime scene: police must treat these cases as suspicious and collect all the evidence available. But even if they do, prosecutors can still decide it’s an accident or a suicide and close the case."
