Man stabbed to death in ‘love triangle’

THE manager of Alsancak Municipality’s water department was stabbed to death in a frenzied attack by his lover tenant and her husband, Girne District Court was told.

Memduh Ulugün had his hands pinned by Mehmet Doğu, who urged his wife, Meryem, to “stab the knife into [Mr Ulugün’s] heart” and reportedly warned bystanders not to intervene because it was “a matter of honour”, police told a hearing on Wednesday.

Father-of-four Mr Ulugün, 53, suffered six wounds with a butcher’s knife, four of which would have been fatal, a judge was told.

Relatives of the two families clashed in the street after the killing on Tuesday, which happened when Mr Ulugün went to have lunch at his house, where the Doğus rented the ground floor.

Police had to shoot in the air to break up the scuffles, and mounted tight security around the court on Wednesday, closing streets around the building to traffic.

A series of claims surfaced in court, suggesting 39-yearold Mehmet Doğu — who fainted as the grisly evidence

was read out and had to be taken to hospital — had discovered the affair a week earlier and presented his 34-year-old wife and Mr Ulugün with alternative ways to “clear his honour”.

Police said Meryem Doğu had called Mr Ulugün on the day of the killing and told him to come home. As they sat talking in a car on wasteland next to the house, she had taken out a knife and stabbed him once, injuring him seriously.

As Mr Ulugün tried to escape, the couple allegedly caught him in the street, Meryem Doğu stabbing him again before dropping the bloody knife. The couple tried to flee, but were stopped by locals.

Mr Ulugün was laid to rest at Alsancak cemetery on Wednesday, during a funeral at which his widow, Nurcan, had to be held up by her elder son and daughter. The couple’s four children, aged between five and 14, are being cared for by relatives.