A Turkish woman has sparked a social media movement after she proclaimed she had no regrets about killing her husband, whom she accused of being abusive.
Fuhuşa direnen yürekli kadın Çilem Doğan'a sevgiler: Öz savunma haktır! - https://t.co/idkkcS3bMM #kadın #cilemdogan
Çilem Doğan, 28, flashed thumbs-up signs to the cameras as she was led into jail after allegedly killing 33-year-old Hasan Karabulut, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Güzel yürekli kadın erkekler kurban olsun sana #cilemdogan
She wore a shirt that read "Dear past, thanks for all the lessons. Dear future, I am ready."
The mother of one told allegedly investigators that she had “no regrets” about what she had done, the newspaper reported.
Investigators told the newspaper that Doğan said Karabulut had abused her throughout their marriage, prompting her to file police reports against him.
According to Doğan, Karabulut had told her one morning she needed to pack her bags. When she asked why, he told her he was planning on taking her to the city of Antalya and pimping her out as a prostitute to make money, Soczu reported.
When she protested, he allegedly attacked her.
"When I opposed, he beat me. He pushed me on the bed and the pistol under the pillow came into my mind. I grabbed it and shot him repeatedly. Then I took my daughter and left the home," Doğan told police, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.
The incident marked the end of a long pattern of abuse, Doğan claimed, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.
WHY WOULD THIS TURKISH WOMAN MRS. CILEM KARABULUT KILLED HER HUSBAND MR. HASAN KARABULUT? http://t.co/8lfYW6inQ5
Doğan said the domestic violence began just 28 days after her wedding and continued through their marriage.
She said her husband once brought her into a forest, beat her, and told her to become a prostitute. She said he then held her prisoner until her mother discovered what was happening and threatened to call the authorities.
When she was released, Doğan said she planned to leave her husband. However, she found out she was pregnant and decided to stay with him.
The pregnancy didn't stop the beatings, according to Doğan. She said when she was seven months pregnant, Karabulut ordered her to become a prostitute.
She said that he even beat her while she was in the hospital giving birth to their daughter.
Doğan had filed for divorce, but didn't go through with it after Karabulut allegedly threatened to hurt her family, HaberTurk.com reported.
After she was arrested on July 9, Doğan told investigators she felt she did what she had to do. "Will women always die? Let some men die too. I killed him for my honor,” she said, according to the newspaper.
* kadınlar ölmesin, biraz da erkekler ölsün! öz savunma haktır! #CilemDogan #NevinYıldırım
She has been charged with murder under heavy duress, according to Millyet.
Doğan's story soon spread around the web, and women in Turkey and beyond began tweeting in support of domestic violence survivors.
dear past thanks for all the lessons. dear future, I am ready. #CilemDogan
Many tweeted that Doğan had the right to defend herself if her husband had been abusing her, as she claimed.
Fuhuşa direnen yürekli kadın Çilem Doğan'a sevgiler: Öz savunma haktır! - https://t.co/idkkcS3bMM #kadın #cilemdogan
Others wrote she was "not alone."
Bize böyle kadınlar lazım. #cilemdogan yalnız değildir.
"Çilem Doğan is our pride," this user wrote.
Çilem Doğan gururumuzdur #cilemdogan
Turkey has made headlines over numerous incidents of violence against women in the country. Al Jazeera said last year that Turkey is "one of the world's worst countries to be a woman."
According to statistics cited by Al Jazeera, approximately 40% of women in Turkey have been abused.
In 2013, authorities estimated 28,000 women were abused in the country and more than 200 were killed. Most of the murdered women died at the hands of a male romantic partner.
"Men turn to violence in order to establish their domination or when they feel it is threatened. Murder is one of the most horrific consequences of this violence," a spokesperson with Mor Cati, a rights group, told Al Jazeera.
More than 100 women have been killed by men in Turkey in 2015 alone, Hurriyet Daily News reported. Most of them died at the hands of a relative.
BuzzFeed staffer Alp Ozcelik assisted with this report.