Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne ? What is Fatmagül’s Fault?

Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne ? What is Fatmagül’s Fault?

Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne? (transl. What is Fatmagül’s Fault?) is a Turkish television drama series produced by Ay Yapım and broadcast on Kanal D. The series is based on Vedat Türkali’s scenario,Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne?, which was made into a film in 1986, Hülya Avşar as Fatmagül.The series is written by the duo Ece Yörenç and Melek Gençoğlu. The soundtrack was composed and conducted by Toygar Işıklı.It tells the story of a poor gang-raped woman who does not stop seeking justice after she is forced into marriage with one of her rapists.

Plot

Fatmagül Ketenci (Beren Saat) is a lower-class dairy-farm naïve girl who lives in the village Ildır on the Aegean coast belonging to the administrative district of Çeşme, in Izmir province, with her too simple brother Rahmi (Bülent Seyran), his son and his wife Mukaddes (Esra Dermancıoğlu) who hates her for no reason. Fatmagül plans to marry her childhood love Mustafa (Fırat Çelik), a fisherman. They are only waiting for Mustafa to earn much money to finish their house construction before marriage. Then there is the Yaşaran family, the rich upper-class businessmen and their political social elites. Yaşaran Family is in Izmir for the engagement ceremony of the son of the elder brother Reşat Yaşaran (Musa Uzunlar) to the daughter of a politician. Selim (Engin Öztürk) is his son and Erdoğan (Kaan Taşaner) his nephew. These cousins have a third friend Vural (Buğra Gülsoy) who also belongs to the upper-class. All these three have spent their childhood in Izmir but as the businesses of their fathers grew, they moved to Istanbul. They have a childhood friend in Izmir, whom they meet on yearly basis when they come there for summer vacations. This fourth friend of theirs is the hero – Kerim Ilgaz (Engin Akyürek).

Kerim Ilgaz is a well-mannered boy, a blacksmith apprentice by profession, who lives with his aunt Meryem Aksoy (Sumru Yavrucuk), known affectionately as “Ebe Nine”, who is a homeopath. Kerim was orphaned during childhood so Meryem brought him up as her own son. He works as a carpenter in the workshop of his father’s friend. Kerim though unlike his rich friends, is over-powered by their presence. He considers himself important with them and hence, enjoys their company.

Fatmagül is desperate to be married-off to Mustafa, not only because she loves him but also to get rid away from her nagging sister-in-law. Her desire for Mustafa and an independent married life is growing with time as Mukaddes’s hatred is growing towards her. Except for Mustafa, she has no one to share her feelings with. While in Izmir, Erdoğan, Selim, Vural and Kerim see Fatmagül and the three rich men ogle and tease her. Kerim doesn’t like this. Then at Selim’s engagement, Kerim comes face-to-face with her as she is working there with her sister-in-law.

The big event of the season is the engagement of Selim, to the politician Turaner Alagöz’s (Aziz Sarvan) daughter Meltem (Seda Güven). Kerim after attending Selim’s engagement, joins his friends for an after-party. All four go for drinking and drug binge near the sea. Mustafa is leaving for a night fish-catch. Fatmagül is coming to see him off. She passes from the area where the drunk boys are singing. Kerim sees her and on recognizing her shouts to his friends ‘Guys! It’s the same girl’!! Then when she tries to run, Kerim gets hold of her while the other three come near her.

The tragedy occurs. Fatmagül is gang-raped. The four boys are shown to be involved in the crime as she faints when Kerim comes on her. The next morning, a traumatized Fatmagül is discovered by Ebe Nine while she is picking herbs. The four boys have already left the crime scene. Kerim drops off Selim and Erdoğan at their place and himself goes with Vural to his house. Kerim is left deeply disturbed by the event and is even more distressed to know that the girl has been rescued by his mother. The rich boys are confident in the power of their rich fathers and are sure to be saved. As Mukaddes approaches the Yaşarans threatening of giving their name to the police (as she had found Selim’s engagement ring at the rape-scene), with the course of events, the Yaşarans save their sons and forcefully marry Kerim to Fatmagül. Kerim accepts the blame of solely raping Fatmagül for protecting his friends and also because he believes himself to be guilty. Mukaddes is their accomplice in all this. Mustafa is hurt primarily because of his fiancé being raped. He burns their half-finished house in front of Fatmagül because he believes Yaşaran’s false stories that Fatmagül has been having an affair with Kerim from the beginning. Fatmagül and Kerim’s families sell their properties and move to İstanbul to start a new life.

The story develops in Istanbul. Fatmagül hates Kerim. She insults him, abuses him, spits at him, tries to kill him, etc. Kerim is not sure whether he really raped her, as he was drunk and drugged. But Fatmagül believes that he did it as his was the last face she saw before fainting. Then Vural who is having little traumas of guilt, tells Kerim what he knows that; Kerim did not rape Fatmagül. In fact, when she laid there and fainted, he just sat beside her. Kerim tells this to Fatmagül. She believes it but it is of no importance for her as she hates him and considers him as much as culprit as the other three.

Things become complicated due to the exploitations of the Yaşarans and their unscrupulous lawyer, Münir Telci (Murat Daltaban), who wants to protect them, as well as Mustafa, who seeks revenge on Kerim. As a result, both the Yaşarans and Mustafa start harassing Kerim, Fatmagül and their relatives. Kerim, realizing his presence causes Fatmagül a lot of pain, prepares to leave and divorce her as she desires. Just before he leaves, Kerim realizes that he loves Fatmagül, and that it was love at first sight. He writes a letter to her, telling her to move on in her life and that one day he will come and ask for forgiveness from her.

Fatmagül reads this letter. Later-on the viewers are shown that this was the moment when Fatmagül fell in love with Kerim as his words softened her heart for him and she believed him. Kerim returns and Fatmagül gradually begins to trust him more.

One day, Vural overhears Erdoğan’s plan to get rid of Mustafa and Kerim forever. He requests a meeting with Kerim to warn him. Fatmagül, on a passing bus, sees Vural hug Kerim goodbye and her trust in Kerim dissolves. She believes he is still conspiring with her rapists. In order to prove his innocence and love for her, Kerim files her rape case and asks the police to arrest him, Vural and the Yaşarans, after which Fatmagül finally accepts his of being honest with her. Mustafa finds out the truth and asks Fatmagül to forgive him, but she rejects him. The Yaşarans bribe Mustafa to not divulge the truth to the police and he becomes a greedy co-conspirator in the Yaşarans’ attempts to obstruct justice. During the first trial, the Yaşarans falsify their testimonies. They also resort to using several bribed witnesses. Vural then is accidentally killed by Mustafa.

In the second season, Fatmagül also confesses her love for Kerim. After the Yaşarans forcefully protect Mustafa against Fatmagül, he abducts her, stating he loves her more than Kerim and that he regrets leaving her. Kerim eventually rescues his wife and they escape. Mustafa is arrested and imprisoned for his crimes. At the wedding of Kerim and Fatmagül, Mustafa intentionally tries to escape from police custody and is therefore, shot to death. Meanwhile, Selim and Erdoğan surreptitiously move to Malta where they briefly hide from the authorities. However, they are extradited to Istanbul after Erdoğan engages in a fight at a nightclub and is arrested.

Eventually, Fatmagül confronts them in court and they are charged for their part in her rape, essentially bringing down the Yaşaran empire. The series ends with Fatmagül and Kerim expecting their first child. In the final scene, they walk down the street in Izmir holding hands, expressing that their love cannot be shaken despite the difficult challenges they faced and that when a woman is strong like Fatmagül and has the support of a strong husband like Kerim, even a crime like ‘rape’ cannot escape justice.

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