A violent husband knifed his wife of 16 years in the chest and back because she had fled home to escape his beatings.

The gory killing took place at the bus terminal in Dikili, Turkey, at around 5pm on 12th August.

Mum of two Hanife Cakici, 33, had gone to the terminus after leaving home to escape 34-year-old Haydar Cakici’s constant beatings.

But when Cakici realised his wife had left home, he followed her.

After finding her at the bus station, he stabbed her four times: twice in the chest and twice in the back, said reports.

Police and paramedics were called to the scene by witnesses, but the paramedics were only able to attest to Hanife’s death.

Her body was sent for a post-mortem examination in nearby Izmir and was later buried in her home village of Deliktas.

Police arrested Cakici, who admitted to the slaying.

In his statement, he said: “I saw Hanife at the bus station on the day of the incident. There was an argument between us. I thought she was cheating on me, I killed her.”

Local media reported that Cakici had been violent towards his wife on several occasions.

He had reportedly been slapped with several restraining orders, the last of which had expired just a fortnight before the crime.

Local media reported that Hanife had wanted to divorce her husband but he would not allow it.

The authorities will now decide if they will keep Cakici in preventive custody.

Femicide is a growing problem in Turkey, particularly after the country officially quit the Istanbul Convention in July last year.

According to the 2021 Annual Data Report announced by the ‘We Will Stop Femicide Platform’, 280 women were killed by men in 2021, while 217 women were found suspiciously dead.

According to data from the ‘Monument Counter’, which is “a digital memorial for women killed by violence” and is updated daily, 252 femicides have taken place in Turkey so far this year.