'Honour killing' horror as teen 'killed by fiancé' when pregnant with rapist's baby

Oya Budak was killed while pregnant with her rapist's baby. (Image: A Haber)

A teenager who was pregnant with her rapist's baby was killed by her fiance in Turkey in a purported "honour killing" after he became aware the attack, which took place several weeks before her engagement. Oya Budak, 18, was shot dead five-and-a-half-months into her pregnancy, and was rushed to hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to Turkish news agencies. She died, along with her baby.

Ms Budak's fiance, 19, reportedly ended the relationship after he found out about the rape, and he was arrested in Istanbul and confessed following the killing, according to local media. Orhan Budak, the victim's grandfather, said: "When she said she was in pain, her fiance took her to the hospital and learned she was pregnant." Ms Budak's family did not know that she had been raped, it is understood. When her killer's family found out, they are said to have not wanted him to wed her.

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The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's (DFAT) Iran Country Information Report described an honour killing in 2023 as a killing "in which a husband, brother, male cousin or other male relative murders a woman for a perceived insult to the family’s ‘honour’".

It added: "Perceived insults to honour might include a woman being a victim of rape, having consensual sex outside marriage or getting divorced."

According to Istanbul-based advocacy group We Will Stop Femicide, in the first six months of 2025, 136 women were killed by men, and 145 women were found "suspiciously dead".

It added: "Right now, women are most often killed by their 'closest relatives’... we can clearly see this in the data we have been collecting for many years.

"In the first six months of 2025, 96 women were killed by a male family member.

Ms Budak was 'killed by her fiance' after she became pregnant. (Image: A Haber)

"In a country where millions of people are deprived of their right to life, housing, livelihood, and protection, this approach which centers the family but disregards the rights of the individual seeks to cover up the problem rather than solve it. 

Research published in 2013 stated that there were 36 honour killings in Malatya - a Turkish city - between 2000 and 2004, and an overwhelming majority of the killers lived in the rural areas, and were employed in agriculture.

Of all victims, 44% were killed with fire arms, experts added.

The report added: "An overwhelming majority of the victims were close relatives of their killers (n=25 %70). 67% percent of the victims were killed in their homes or workplaces.

"In Turkey, a total of 2,736 people were murdered between 2001 and 2008, and, out of 2,736 victims, 511 were female."