Pregnant woman dies in Turkey balcony fall, husband held

A 35-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant died after falling from a fourth-floor flat in Bursa, western Turkey, and police detained her husband, state news agency Anadolu reported Monday.

The Sudanese woman died late Sunday. Anadolu said her 37-year-old husband was at home at the time with the couple's three-year-old daughter.

The husband told police that his wife had jumped from the bedroom window, Anadolu reported. In his testimony, he said he met her in Sudan and they had been married for five years. He also admitted solvent abuse, saying it often caused fights, including one on Sunday night, according to Anadolu.

Two neighbours reported hearing sounds of a fight, Anadolu said. Police have opened an investigation.

Turkey does not publish femicide figures. Women's organisations collect data from news reports on murders and deaths under suspicious circumstances. We Will Stop Femicides said 215 women were killed or found dead in suspicious circumstances in the first seven months of this year. It said 294 women were killed by men last year and 297 others died in suspicious circumstances, including falls from balconies.