9 February 2010
Media sources in London, England report that Turkish police have found a body of a 16-year old girl in the south-eastern province of Adiyaman after a tip-off by an informant. Indications were that the girl was alive while being buried. The informant reported that the incident occurred after a family council meeting and was her punishment for talking to boys.
Both the father and grandfather have been arrested and are currently pending trial, though it is unclear if charges have been pressed. Media reports indicate that the father and grandfather did not approve of the girl’s relations with the opposite sex.
So-called "honor" killings, which account for over half of all of the murders in Turkey, are especially prevalent in the impoverished south-east.
Compiled from: Robert Tait, “Turkish Girl, 16, Buried Alive for Talking to Boys,” Guardian.co.uk (4 February 2010).