First hearing held in case of 8-year-old’s murder

DİYARBAKIR

The entire country is focused on a trial in Türkiye’s southeast on Nov. 7, as judges hear testimony from suspects, including several family members, in the murder case of eight-year-old Narin Güran.

Güran’s body was discovered early September in a riverbed following a 19-day search in the Diyarbakır province.

Public outrage surged after the authorities arrested the girl’s mother, uncle and older brother. Prosecutors are seeking aggravated life sentences for four suspects, including a neighbor who disposed of the body.

The court proceedings on Nov. 7 began with the testimony of neighbor Nevzat Bahtiyar, who confessed to receiving the girl’s body from her uncle, Salim Güran, and placing it in the riverbed.

Repeating his earlier statements to police, Bahtiyar asserted he did not kill the girl but merely concealed her body.

"Uncle Salim Güran told me he killed Narin because she had discovered his illicit relationship with her mother," Bahtiyar stated, adding that Narin’s mother, Yüksel Güran, was aware of the incident while at home.

Bahtiyar denied claims of coercion or that he was offered money to assume responsibility for the crime, adding that the uncle had threatened to kill his own son if Bahtiyar refused to hide the body.

Bahtiyar clarified that he did not know the exact circumstances of the murder and had only gone to the girl's home after she was already dead.

According to the indictment, the uncle, mother, brother and neighbor are all charged with the murder. Prosecutors argue that they acted together based on cell tower records and other data showing all four were at Narin’s home at the time of her death.

However, some legal experts question whether this evidence is sufficient to justify aggravated life sentences for each accused.

The trial, closely followed by the nation, may hinge on any new confession that diverges from previous statements. So far, the mother, uncle and brother have denied all charges, each accusing Bahtiyar of committing the murder alone.

An autopsy confirmed the child was strangled, though the indictment leaves the exact motive undetermined.

Narin’s father, Arif Güran, who remains free following a brief detention, denied allegations of an affair between his wife and brother. He has also claimed that camera footage proving the family members’ innocence was omitted from the case file, threatening a hunger strike outside the parliament if the footage is not included.

Local media reported that he entered the courtroom in tears on Nov. 7.

On the eve of the trial, Narin’s brother, Enes Güran, declared that the court lacked concrete evidence and could not hold him.

The highly publicized case has seen the involvement of the Family and Social Services Ministry and the Diyarbakır Bar Association, with association lawyers also questioning the defendants.

The opening hearing proceeded under heavy security and extensive media coverage, while Türkiye’s broadcasting watchdog RTÜK urged news outlets to adhere to “journalistic standards” in reporting on the sensitive case.