It has been exactly one year since Remziye Bor (27) was murdered in a house raid on her home in Xaçort (Hacıbekir) neighborhood of Van’s İpekyolu district, when she was 7.5 months pregnant. There have been no inquiries on the raid and the murder since, and the pain in the Bor family home is still as fresh as day one. Baby Newal was delivered via a caesarian section after Remziye Bor was shot, and she turned 1 this month on the 25th. Her father İrfan Bor is in prison. The extended family is seeking justice and looking after the orphaned baby.

Newal's grandmother Kıymet Abi spoke to ANF on the murder of her bride, arrest of her son and her orphaned granddaughter.

“It was April 19 last year. Suddenly, we heard gunshots from Remziye’s home. The police had the house surrounded with armored vehicles. I wanted to go in, but the police threatened me and didn’t let me through. They raked the house even though my bride was pregnant. They kicked her and said she was a suicide bomber. After my bride was murdered, the doctors had to deliver the baby through a caesarian section. They murdered my bride, and now my granddaughter turned one without her mother or father.

SHE COULDN’T TAKE ANY MOTHER’S MILK

My granddaughter never saw her mother. My bride never saw her child. They arrested my son after the incident. Now her aunt takes care of everything. I can’t even look after the child. She couldn’t even drink her own mother’s milk. My son wanted to see her, so we took her to the prison for a visit. She held on to her father and didn’t want to let go, it was as if she knew her father. She turned one without her father or her mother.”

HER AUNT TAKES CARE OF HER

18 year old Aunt Elif takes care of Baby Newal, who became a source of solace for the entire family. Newal’s mother had named her when she was pregnant. Newal lives in a adobe house with photographs of Remziye and İrfan on the walls. She is unaware of what happened one year ago as she plays with her toys. Newal loves to be cuddled by her aunt who she thinks is her mother. Newal saw her mother only in photographs, and her aunt tears up every time she looks at her. When asked who Newal looks like, Aunt Elif says she looks both like her father and mother, and hugs the baby.

Mother Kıymet said: “I only want justice to be served for my son at least anymore. We want Newal to grow up with her father beside her.”