General

Teenage girl buried alive in Turkey for talking to boys

Police ignored her earlier pleas for help

The gruesome details surrounding the murder of Medine Memi has shocked Turkey, home to some 200 “honour killings” every year—half of all murders in the nation. The 16-year-old was found outside her home in the south-eastern province of Adiyaman last December in a sitting position, her hands tied. A postmortem exam revealed large amounts of soil in her lungs and stomach, indicating that she had been alive and conscious while being buried. “The report is blood curdling,” one official told the London Times. Memi’s father and grandfather have been arrested and are due to face trial. Her mother was also charged but has since been released. Media reports say the father had told relatives he was unhappy that his daughter had male friends. The grandfather is said to have beaten her for having relations with the opposite sex. It has also emerged that Memi had repeatedly tried to report to police that she had been beaten by her father and grandfather days before she was killed. “She tried to take refuge at the police station three times, and she was sent home three times,” her mother said after the body was discovered.

The Telegraph

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