Friday, February 5, 2010

16 Year Old Turkish Girl Buried Alive for Talking to Boys

In Kahta, Turkey, a body of a 16 year-old girl was found buried outside her house. Police say that she was buried alive by her relatives in an "honor killing" as a punishment for talking to boys.

The girl was reported missing in December, and the police were tipped off by an anonymous informant. Police found her body in a sitting position with her hands tied up, buried 2 meters in the ground under a chicken pen. Postmortem investigation found dirt in her lungs and stomach. "The autopsy result is blood-curdling. According to our findings, the girl – who had no bruises on her body and no sign of narcotics or poison in her blood – was alive and fully conscious when she was buried,” one anonymous expert said.

Sources say that she was killed after "family council" meeting. The girls--who has only be identified by the initials MM--had male friends, which displeased her father, and had been beaten in the past by her grandfather past for talking to boys.

The mother, father, and grandfather were arrested; the mother was released shortly thereafter. The father and grandfather are awaiting trial.

The Huffington Posts says the "case is expected to bring further attention to the issue of 'honor' killings in Turkey. Official figures indicate that more than 200 'honor' killings take place each year - almost half of all murders in Turkey."

In many countries in the world, women are brutally murdered in "honor killings" by their family for engaging in extramarital sex, affairs, or after being raped. Family members justify these acts as a means to reestablish family honor. Honor killings are a horrific violence against women issue on a global scale. Go to the Feminist Majority Foundation factsheet on Violence Against Women for more information.

photo via huffingtonpost.com

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