Turkish girl dies after likely family-honour killing

Auckland News.Net
Monday 8th February, 2010

A man has been accused of burying his daughter because she spoke to boys.

The Turkish man and his father have been arrested and charged by prosecutors, who are seeking life in jail for the pair.

They were both taken into custody after the body of 16-year-old Medine Memi was found in a hole in a chicken pen outside her house in Kahta town, Adiyaman province.

40 days after she went missing, pathologists examined the body to find a significant amount of dirt in her lungs and stomach, meaning she had been buried alive.

The father, Ayhan Memi, 40, and grandfather Fethi Memi, 65, have refused to be interviewed by investigators since their arrest in early December.

It is belived they will face charges related to a so-called honour killing, which occurs when a family member kills a female relative considered to have sullied the family's name.

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