Disturbing sketch found in teen killer’s bedroom

Warning: Graphic content. Police made a disturbing discovery inside a teen’s room after he murdered two young women and then took his life.

Face of evil: A teenage butcher committed suicide after killing two young women

WARNING: Graphic content

A teenage butcher who brutally murdered his girlfriend and a female schoolmate before taking his own life left a demonic charcoal sketch of a beheaded creature in his bedroom.

Semih Celik, 19, slaughtered Aysenur Halil and Ikbal Uzuner, both 19, within half an hour of each other before killing himself in in Istanbul’s historic Fatih district last Friday.

Neighbours and classmates of the victims said Celik was obsessed with both of the women, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

Police searched Celik’s home after the double murder suicide and found a notebook filled with disturbing drawings of dismembered naked bodies.

They also found a video of him threatening to kill one of the victims and his mobile phone, which showed he was part of an “incel” chat group online.

Semih Celik, 19, murdered two young women before taking his own life. Picture: Supplied

Police found a disturbing notebook with a sketch showing a dismembered body inside his room. Picture: Supplied

Celik’s father said his son, who had been discharged from a string of mental health institutions for psychological problems, had a drug habit and had recently quit his job as a butcher.

He first discovered his son’s disturbing drawings over a year ago.

“When I entered Semih’s room, I saw the devil-like drawings he had drawn on the wall, which frightened the human mind,” he said in a statement seen by BBC Turkey.

“When we asked Semih, ‘What are these drawings?’ he would explain it differently by saying, ‘You wouldn’t understand, our mindset is different.’”

It’s understood Celik spoke with the mother of one of the victims, Iqbal Uzuner, on the day of the murders, telling her “don’t worry, your daughter is in safe hands.”

Turkey’s Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş condemned the killings.

“The brutal murder of our two young girls in Istanbul has broken our hearts,” he wrote on X.

“We will continue to work with all our might in cooperation with all relevant institutions to eliminate the reasons that lead to violence and to prevent femicides.

“I wish God’s mercy upon the deceased and offer my condolences to their grieving families. We stand by our families in every way, especially in psychosocial support.”

Aysenur Halil, 19, was killed on October 4. Picture: Supplied

Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya also took to X.

“The foundation of our country’s peace lies in the fundamental rights and freedoms of women and a zero-tolerance policy against violence toward women. We will not allow those who attempt to inflict violence upon women to breathe easily,” he wrote.

Those words were empty promises for thousands of furious women who gathered in major cities across the country to protest against violence against women over the weekend.

In Istanbul, women gathered at the Edirnekapi walls where one of the women was killed holding banners that read “we are not in mourning, we are in a rebellion”.

Another banner read: “women no longer want to see your condolence messages; they want to see you enforcing the law.”

One activist group, “We Will Stop Femicide”, issued a powerful statement:

“So many femicides are no coincidence but a consequence of impunity. We will hold accountable any official who has neglected their duty.”

The deaths triggered protests across Turkey over the weekend. Mourners are seen at Medipol University, where victim Aysenur Halil studied. Picture: X/ solcugazete

Women held up banners reading “we are not in mourning; we are in rebellion”. Picture: X/ solcugazete

Güneş Fadime Şahin, a representative from the Young Feminists Federation, also had a strong message for those in charge.

“Every day perpetrators [of crimes against women] freely roam the streets. … Everyone talks about a state of impunity in the country these days. You brag about having built the biggest courthouses, but women don’t need big

Turkey has struggled to contain a wave of killings of women in recent months.

One monitoring group says there have been 290 murders of women this year, with more than 160 “suspect” killings officially classed as suicides or accidents.

In 2021, Turkey withdrew from the Council of Europe convention on preventing violence against women, known as the Istanbul convention.

It obliges national authorities to investigate and sanction violence against women