A woman in Turkey who fled her violent husband with her children when he announced he wanted a second wife has been savagely beaten together with her young daughters by her brother and sister-in-law for dishonouring the family.

Ebru Barik, 30, left her home in Aksaray and settled in Eregli and when her brother found out, he was reportedly furious at the dishonour to the family name.

She said her brother held a knife to her throat and told her: “Your husband doesn’t want you anymore, he told me to kill you.”

She added that the knife had been held so tightly against her throat it had even cut her.

The mum said that the reason for leaving her husband had been his repeated violence and the final straw was when he announced he wanted to bring a new wife into the family home.

Although polygamy is illegal in Turkey, especially in rural areas, men do take second wives and marry them in religious ceremonies that are not officially recognised.

In the case of Ebru, when her brother, named only as E.B., 28, discovered that she had left her husband, he tracked her down and then together with his wife carried out a savage attack.

He attacked Ebru with a stick while his wife, identified only as Y. S., beat her two daughters on Thursday, 23rd May.

Ebru and her two daughters were later taken to Eregli State Hospital by ambulance for treatment.

After completing their treatment, she and her three children were discharged and she filed a complaint with the poice.

In her statement to the police, she said: “While I was at home with my children, the doorbell rang and my daughter E.B. opened the door, allowing E.B. and Y.S. to enter.

“E.B. came to the room where I was lying and attacked me, punching me and hitting me on the back and body with a wooden stick he brought.

“He choked me and held a fruit knife to my throat, causing abrasions. Meanwhile, Y.S. beat my children with her hands. I tried to escape from their hands but couldn’t.

“My landlord, hearing our screams, came to help and took me away from E.B. and Y.S. who then left the scene.

“The stick E.B. used to beat me broke on me during the attack.”

It is not known if either of the two suspects has been arrested.

Approximately 40 per cent of women in Turkey have suffered domestic violence, exceeding rates in Europe and the United States, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021.