Turkish soccer player Cevher Toktas has, reportedly, confessed to killing his 5-year-old son, Kasim, who was admitted in a hospital for coronavirus. The reason, he told the police, was that he “didn’t love" his son.
The 32-year-old top-tier player, handed himself over to police on May 4 and confessed to having smothered his son, Kasim, with a pillow, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Many Twitter users have shared the "shocking" reports. Cevher Toktas, who plays for Bursa Yildirimspor in the Turkish Regional Amateur League, told police he killed his son Kasim at a hospital in the province of Bursa because he never felt that he loved him “since he was born.
Tweep @Utd_lanre posted: “Tragic. How can you not love your own son?”
Kasim was brought in to the hospital with a fever and cough on April 23. They were isolated together out of fear that they both had the virus, according to an article by The Sun.
Later in the day, the father alerted doctors that his son was struggling to breathe. Doctors tried to save him, but he died two hours.
Reportedly, the boy's death was initially not believed to be suspicious, although he tested negative for COVID-19.
After 11 days, Toktas confessed to the crime, and claimed that while they were alone, he pressed a pillow on Kasim for 15 minutes as his son was lying on his back.
“After he stopped moving, I lifted the pillow, then I yelled for doctors to help to draw any suspicions away from me," he added.
“I don’t have any mental issues,” he reportedly insisted, claiming that not loving his son was the only reason he killed him, the Sun reported.
The football player was taken into custody, while Kasim’s body has been exhumed for an autopsy, according to the report.
Between 2007 and 2009, Toktas played for the Hacettepe soccer team, which briefly competed in the Turkish top-tier Super League.
