In the 1990s, I attended a prestigious private high school in Ankara. My pediatrician was also our family friend, and her daughter attended the same school. I will call her Zehra for privacy reasons. I tried my best to avoid her at school, as she seemed strange or at least clumsy. So I thought.
Zehra often had bruises all over her body, and sometimes even broken bones. One day, when I had to stop by her family's apartment, I witnessed something I will never forget. The wood door to Zehra's bedroom was off its hinges and damaged in the center. Her mother was bandaging Zehra's rib cage, as blood dripped from her nose and mouth. Her mom told me, “Please don't tell anyone, her father got angry all of a sudden.”