Turkish Court of Cassation sets precedent on postpartum psychosis

The legal standing of postpartum psychosis in criminal law has been brought to the forefront following two significant cases in Turkey. The Court of Cassation overturned a 15-year prison sentence given to a mother in Istanbul accused of dropping her baby from a window, ruling that the Forensic Medicine Institute must investigate whether she was under the influence of postpartum psychosis at the time of the incident.

In a separate case in Ankara, a court decided not to impose a penalty on a mother who placed her two-month-old baby in a freezer, citing the desperation and inability to intervene during the postpartum period.

Legal experts emphasize that a psychological diagnosis does not automatically exempt an individual from criminal responsibility. The central issue is whether the psychosis significantly impaired the individual's ability to perceive reality and control their actions at the moment of the crime. Under new precedents, if a person is found to have lost their connection to reality due to such conditions, medical treatment may be applied instead of traditional criminal punishment, provided scientific reports confirm the severity of the mental impairment.