Narin Guran, an eight-year-old girl whose disappearance and death sparked widespread anger in Turkey, was strangled on the day she went missing, a postmortem examination has found.
Narin's body was found in a sack that was dumped in a river in the south-eastern province of Diyarbakir on September 8, almost three weeks after she disappeared after attending Quran study in her village of Tavsantepe.
The cause of her death was “asphyxiation as a result of closure of the mouth and nose and compression of the neck”, said the head of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, Nahit Eren. He was quoting an unpublished report of the postmortem examination carried out by Istanbul's Forensic Medicine Institute, part of Turkey's Justice Ministry.
Narin was killed on August 21, the day she went missing, and there was no evidence of poisoning, Mr Eren said.
He said forensic doctors were unable to determine if she had been subjected to sexual assault. An animal appeared to have bitten her left leg below the knee after she was killed, causing part of the limb to detach from her body. Some of her teeth were also found loose in the sack in which her body was found.
Narin’s murder provoked widespread anger in Turkey, where rights groups say at least 14 girls have been killed this year, nine of them with their mothers. Campaigners say authorities are failing to protect women and children from violence, often at the hands of male relatives.
Authorities detained about two dozen people in connection with Narin's death, including her parents and members of her extended family. Her father, local car dealer Arif Guran, was released last week after questioning, but her mother and brother were arrested on suspicion of complicity in deliberate murder.
They are among 12 people currently under formal arrest and investigation by the Diyarbakir prosecutor’s office in connection with the murder, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on Monday.
One of them, an uncle of Narin called Salim Guran, was arrested on September 2 on suspicion of premeditated murder and deprivation of liberty after the girl’s DNA was found in his car. His associate, Nevzat Bahtiyar, was arrested on suspicion of the same crimes and confessed to hiding Narin’s body in the Egertutmaz stream, near the family's home in Tavsantepe. The region is a relatively poor and conservative part of south-eastern Turkey, where most residents are from the Kurdish ethnic minority.
On Sunday, Turkey’s Scientific and Technological Research Council was handed camera footage obtained from houses in Tavsantepe, which may lead to more information about the murder, Mr Tunc said at a forensic medicine conference in the Turkish city of Antalya.
Turkish authorities have criticised journalists and social media users for widespread commentary and speculation on the murder investigation, which has dominated local channels in the country.
“For the sake of the investigation, it is necessary to avoid issues that may lead to different interpretations,” Mr Tunc said. “Therefore, the murderers of our delicate girl, our delicate child, will definitely be identified within the scope of the investigation and brought before the judiciary. It will not take too long and as a result of a trial to be opened in this sense, her killer or killers will be held accountable before the judiciary, before the nation.”
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Series result
1st ODI Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets
2nd ODI Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets
3rd ODI Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets
4th ODI Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets
5th ODI Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
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Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
Notable cricketers and political careers
- India: Kirti Azad, Navjot Sidhu and Gautam Gambhir (rumoured)
- Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
- Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
- Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)
How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
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The years Ramadan fell in May
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Squad for first two ODIs
Kohli (c), Rohit, Dhawan, Rayudu, Pandey, Dhoni (wk), Pant, Jadeja, Chahal, Kuldeep, Khaleel, Shami, Thakur, Rahul.
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FOOTBALL TEST
Team X 1 Team Y 0
Scorers
Red card
Man of the Match
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
