Girl, 16, buried alive for talking to boys

In a gruesome incident of honour killing, a 16-year-old Turkish girl was buried alive by relatives for talking to boys.

Medine Memi was found in a sitting position with her hands tied, in a two-metre hole dug under a chicken pen outside her home in Kahta, according Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.

Police made the discovery in December after a tip-off from an informant, who told the police she had been killed following a family "council" meeting.

A post mortem examination revealed large amounts of soil in her lungs and stomach, indicating that she had been alive and conscious while being buried. Her body showed no signs of bruising.

The girl had previously been reported missing.

Her father and grandfather have since been arrested and held in custody pending trial. The girl’s mother was arrested, but was released later.

Media reports said the father had told relatives he was unhappy that his daughter, who was one of nine children, had male friends.

The grandfather is said to have beaten her for having relations with the opposite sex.

Apparently Medine 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, Immihan, said after the body was discovered in December.

The episode is set to reopen the debate about honour killings in Turkey. Although honour killings are not infrequent in Turkey, the especially gruesome manner of Medine's death has shocked the nation.

Official figures have indicated that more than 200 such killings take place each year, accounting for around half of all murders in Turkey.