ANKARA: The body of an eight-year-old girl who had been missing in Turkiye for 19 days has been found after an enormous manhunt, the interior minister said on Sunday.

The body of Narin Guran was found in a bag in a river in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, around one kilometre from the village where she lived with her family, Diyarbakir governor Murat Zorluoglu told reporters.

“Unfortunately, the lifeless body of Narin, who went missing in the village of Tavsantepe... has been found,” Turkish interior minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

She disappeared on August 21, sparking a huge search effort in Turkiye, with a number of well-known figures joining a social media campaign called “Find Narin”. “Narin Guran was found dead wearing the same clothes as the last time she was seen,” said Zorluoglu.

“Based on the first observations, she was put into a bag after she was killed. The bag was then placed in the river, hidden under branches and rocks so as not to raise suspicion,” he added.

Diyarbakir prosecutors have detained 21 people, said Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc.

Narin’s parents and her eldest brother were among those taken in for questioning, according to Turkish news channel NTV.

The girl’s uncle was arrested last week on suspicion of murder and “deprivation of liberty”. “We are profoundly hurt by the sad news about Narin, who was brutally killed,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on X.

“I will personally follow the judicial process to ensure that those who took Narin away from us receive the harsh punishment they deserve,” he added.

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party DEM has called for a march to take place in Diyarbakir on Sunday evening.

“Narin was killed in an organised manner. Those responsible for this murder, which has saddened us all, must be revealed and held accountable before an impartial and independent justice system,” DEM wrote on X. Tunc said on X that “those responsible for Narin’s death will be brought to justice”.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2024