Easy target

Finding the baby motionless upon her return, she turned up with him at hospital, seemingly unaware that he had died.

For many media headlines and commentators in the Twittosphere, the case is cut and dried: The 34-year-old primary school teacher from Gölcuk is a "monster," "cold-blooded," "without conscience," "not worthy of being a mother."

Pictured on the front pages of newspapers, identified and condemned by the media equivalent of a lynch mob, Ş.M.D. -- who is divorced and gave birth out of wedlock, media reports underline -- is providing fodder for a sensationalist press that chooses not to examine the broader context or the finer details of this sad case.

The witch hunt reached such levels that even the judicial authorities not always known for their sensitivity, felt the need to offer a public reminder that the defendant was entitled to the presumption of innocence. The suspect faces charges of homicide of a child by neglect, but the investigation is still under way.

The Media Ethics Platform issued a timely statement, deploring the press frenzy and pointing out that Ş.M.D. was arbitrarily condemned before anything was known about her mental state. After all, it is not rare for mothers to suffer post-partum depression, and the suspect, who has yet to be examined by psychologists, according to the prosecution, must have felt under extreme pressure. The platform also deplored a sexist approach that chose to ignore that the baby's father could have a share of responsibility and double-standards that reserve the "monster" label and the front page for women who have killed or caused a death, while burying in the middle pages endless daily reports of male violence.

Incidentally, the independent media platform Bianet, which keeps track of cases of gender-based violence in the press, has just published its September report. Apart from killing 24 women, wounding and raping several others and killing five men who tried to protect them, male perpetrators also killed five children last month. Have these incidents been reported on the front pages? Were any of the male suspects subjected to similar mob treatment?

Admittedly, the first reaction to this baby's tragic death is one of shock and incomprehension. But what does it say about the society this young woman lives in that she felt she had no one to turn to at a time when she so clearly needed help and support? According to the scant information available, she had kept her baby hidden from the people in her circle, aware of the social stigma still attached in many circles to having a baby out of wedlock. Only days after giving birth, she started teaching.

Should we also question a concept of the family that expects loyalty and respect from its junior members but is at times prepared to withdraw love and assistance if they do not behaving according to a strict social code? Can concerns about reputation, honor and moral rectitude be allowed to trump compassion? Ş.M.D. apparently told investigators that she had tried to avoid traveling to her family home for bayram. When she ran out of excuses in the face of parental pressure, she felt compelled to leave her son behind because she feared that her parents, unaware of his existence, might kill her. Whether she meant it literally or was afraid of being judged and ostracized, she must have felt very alone with her secret.

This case is as shocking and unusual as it is tragic. It is therefore not unnatural that it is attracting plenty of interest. But before throwing the first stone and jumping to black-and-white conclusions, we should perhaps pause and pay closer attention to the context and circumstances that led to this family drama, and think of what could have been done, by the authorities and by the community, to prevent it.