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An Istanbul family court has ordered a 15-year-old boy to wear an electronic ankle monitor outside school hours after he allegedly assaulted and chased a classmate with a knife in the Umraniye district.
The decision by the Anadolu 2nd Family Court marks a rare measure in a peer bullying case and may set a precedent for similar incidents in Türkiye.
The case stems from a Jan. 28 incident in which the suspect, identified as G.H.O., allegedly attacked K.A., a 15-year-old who lives in the same residential complex and attends the same school.
According to Anadolu Agency, the suspect beat K.A. on the street and then chased him with a knife as the teenager tried to flee.
K.A. ran into a nearby shopping mall and sought help. A security officer hid him and called the police. K.A. and his father later filed a criminal complaint at the Istanbul Anatolian Courthouse and requested protective measures.
In his statement, K.A. said he had faced bullying from the suspect for about a year.
The Anadolu 2nd Family Court ruled that G.H.O. must remain at home for two months outside school hours and wear an electronic ankle monitor during that time. The court also barred him from approaching K.A. within 500 meters.
The ruling warned that authorities could impose heavier measures if the suspect continues actions against the victim.
In its written decision, the court referred to recent incidents that have shaken the public conscience and noted a visible rise in children being drawn into crime. The judges pointed to ongoing efforts to draft new legislation aimed at preventing youth crime.
“These efforts are the shared hope of the public for long-term social peace,” the court said. “However, in the face of incidents that wound public conscience, reinterpreting existing regulations within the scope of judicial discretion, alongside new laws, will certainly shorten the solution process.”
The court also stressed that preventing children from being pushed into crime falls under the responsibility of all state institutions.
According to the decision, K.A. told police that the suspect threatened him multiple times with a switchblade-style knife and said, “Shall I stab this knife into you now?”
He said the suspect swung the knife toward him twice, slapped him, and forced him to take refuge in the shopping mall, where he waited for a family member to arrive because he was afraid to leave.
The court described the level of violence risk as intense and disturbing, making protective measures necessary.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, K.A.’s father H.A. said police and judicial authorities acted quickly and made the family feel supported.
He said the suspect received the ankle monitor order under the legal classification of a “child driven to crime.”
“If we had been a little late, if the shopping mall security chief had not been there, they might have killed my son like Mattia Ahmet Minguzzi or Atlas Caglayan,” the father said. “For a year, my son was threatened by someone we call a peer bully, who tried to stab him.”
He also alleged that after the incident, the suspect shared his son’s official statement on social media and continued to issue threats.
K.A.’s mother O.A. said the family’s psychological state had deteriorated and that both she and her son would seek support. She said they had decided to sell their home and move to another city.
“He is the guilty one, yet we are the ones leaving,” she said. “That child did not become like that overnight. Whoever raised him is responsible.”
O.A. also claimed that despite the house arrest order, the suspect posted a document online that included their home address.
Addressing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, she called for stronger laws. “Let whatever law needs to come out, come out,” she said. “More mothers should not suffer. Not only does a child die, but a mother dies too.”
The family’s lawyer, Sule Mevruk, described the decision as an important precedent for protecting victims in similar peer bullying cases.
She said courts must balance the rehabilitation of children who commit crimes with the psychological and physical safety of victims and added that the legal struggle would continue to ensure full justice.
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