A headless woman’s body found in an Istanbul bin has sparked outrage and protests, with women’s groups citing rising male violence and femicide rates.
ISTANBUL: The decapitated body of a woman was discovered in a rubbish bin in Istanbul, sparking fury from women’s rights groups.
Her body, with legs also severed, was found wrapped in a sheet in the Sisli district on Saturday evening.
A paper collector discovered the remains while searching for recyclable items, according to the DHA news agency.
Investigators identified the victim as a 37-year-old Uzbek national.
Police have not yet located the woman’s head or legs from the initial crime scene.
Security camera footage later showed two men dumping a suitcase at a different bin, though its contents remain unclear.
Hours after the discovery, police detained two Uzbek nationals at Istanbul Airport as they attempted to leave the country.
A third suspect was later arrested in connection with the murder.
Women’s rights groups expressed outrage and called for protest marches in Istanbul and Ankara.
The group Feminists Against Femicide pledged to “take our anger to the streets so that not one more is lost”.
“We don’t yet know the murdered woman’s name, but we know this crime is the result of male violence!” the group wrote on X.
Sisli’s jailed mayor Resul Emrah Sahan said such murders represent a “major social problem”.
“Femicides are turning into an ever-growing massacre through impunity, negligence, and silence,” he wrote on X.
Turkey does not collate official figures on femicides, leaving women’s organisations to track the data.
Figures compiled by We Will Stop Femicides show 294 women were killed by men in 2025.
A further 297 women were found dead under suspicious circumstances last year.
