Her Missing Body Was Found After 19 Days
8-year-old Narin Güran was reported missing on August 21st and was last seen in the Tavşantepe Neighborhood of the Merkez Bağlar district in the southeast city of Diyarbakır. After a 19-day nationwide search for 8-year-old Güran, her body was discovered in Eğertutmaz Creek, 2 kilometres away from her neighbourhood, on September 8th. The discovery ended hopes of her safe return, and the circumstances surrounding her death have provoked widespread public concern. Her little body was stuffed in a sack, covered with stones and bushes. The investigation into Güran’s murder is still ongoing.
The Unsolved Mystery of the 18 Minutes In Between
Güran was last seen on CCTV at 15:15 on August 21st. The suspect, Nevzat Bahtiyar, a plasterer residing in the same area, has been detained and confessed to placing the 8-year-old’s body in a sack at his home and disposing of it in the creek. Gendarmerie cameras later recorded his vehicle near Eğertutmaz Creek at 15:40. A re-enactment of the events indicated that the drive from Bahtiyar’s residence to the creek takes approximately seven minutes, leaving an 18-minute gap in the timeline that remains unexplained.
Nevzat Bahtiyar’s Confession
In his initial official statement, Bahtiyar claimed he had been running errands in Carikli, approximately five kilometers away from Tavşantepe, before returning to the neighborhood. He stated that Salim Güran, Narin Güran’s uncle, had handed him her body, and they had loaded it into Bahtiyar’s vehicle together. He claimed that he placed the sack next to a rock near the water and then covered it with a stone. During one of his appearances in court, he stated: “The claims I made in my previous statement, that Salim told me he had killed Arif’s (Güran’s father) daughter, and that I had to help dispose of her body if I didn’t want him to kill my family, were all true. I hadn’t mentioned this early on in the investigation because I was scared of Salim. I later placed Narin’s body in a sack at my house. It was my first time encountering Salim face-to-face after having buried Narin’s body when he and some gendarmes came to my house. And since there were gendarmes around, he didn’t ask me anything. No one in Narin’s family ever asked me anything either.” Bahtiyar was detained on September 10th for complicity in premeditated murder.
The Dubious Fires and Power Outages
As specified by the current investigation file, while the nationwide search efforts for Narin Güran were ongoing, unusually frequent power outages began occurring in the province. These consecutive outages attracted the investigators' attention, so the gendarmerie recorded the incidents. The outages were later followed by an unexpected fire that broke out in one of Güran’s uncles’ gardens, supposedly caused by the friction between electrical wires. During the interrogations regarding the incidents, some suspects were examined for intentionally causing the said outages and fires by making plastic rods touch the electricity wires, Mehmet Şevket Kaya, brother-in-law of Salim Güran, being one of them. Kaya admitted that all suspects carried plastic rods but denied deliberately causing the outages or the fires for an ulterior motive. Kaya was arrested for “protecting a criminal and destroying crucial evidence.”
The False Reports
According to the police report for Ramazan Atasoy, Salim Güran’s 15-year-old employee, false reports were used to distract and mislead the investigation. These reports included claims such as finding Narin Güran’s slipper near a tent housing Syrian immigrants, which aimed to divert the media’s attention and the search efforts. It was also noted that there was a possibility that the suspicious power outages and fires occurring in the village were an effort to steer the gendarmerie away from Eğertutmaz Creek. Some of these claims were said to involve members of the Güran family.
The Arrests Continue
As the days go on and the investigation continues, new suspicions and evidence emerge, and new arrests continue. Currently, in the investigation, 11 people are detained, including her uncle Salim Güran, in whose car DNA traces of Narin were found; Nevzat Bahtiyar, who confessed to carrying the body; Narin's mother Yüksel Güran; her aunt Hediye Güran; and her brother Enes Güran. Cousins Isa Kaya and Seyma Kaya were also detained on charges of “destroying evidence and protecting the criminal” but were released yesterday. These two suspects, who are relatives of previously arrested suspects Mehmet Şevket Kaya and Muhammet Kaya, were implicated due to now-detained Hediye Güran’s statements. It is alleged that the two also gave false reports during the research in order.
JASAT’s Report
A gendarmerie report prepared by the JASAT (Gendarmerie Crime Investigation Team) stated that Fuat Güran, Narin’s uncle, attempted to secretly listen to the researchers’ discussions during the investigation. The prosecutor handling the case was informed, and when Fuat was arrested, he denied the accusation made by the JASAT report, expressing he was only trying to provide help and support.
The Recent Autopsy Report
According to the newly-arrived autopsy report from the Forensic Medicine Institute, Narin Güran had been strangled to death. It’s been revealed that during the strangulation, saliva from Narin's mouth ended up on her uncle Salim Güran’s hand, which then transferred to the steering wheel and seat of his car. CNN Türk’s Ankara Correspondent Dicle Canova explained: “Two forensic reports are awaited—one from Istanbul and another from Diyarbakır. In Diyarbakır, biological studies are ongoing, while 91 pieces of evidence collected from Narin’s body are being analyzed in detail in Istanbul. The preliminary autopsy (…) was conducted in Diyarbakır, but the definitive findings will come from Istanbul. That report is expected to take 15 days, with results due around September 23.”
Narin’s Case From a Legal and Social Stand-point
The investigation into 8-year-old Narin Güran’s murder case continues as suspects, including her uncles, cousins, and other family members, are accused of “destroying crucial evidence and protecting the criminal.” Ever since the day of her disappearance, the 8-year-old has been the center of nationwide media attention, which is the main reason why the search is developing at a faster pace than most of the other missing children’s cases in the state. Ever since Türkiye withdrew from ‘The Istanbul Convention’ –a major legislature that aims to combat violence against all women and girls who are or are at risk of being subjected to violence– in 2021, the rising levels of offenses against women and girls have been a perpetual humanitarian concern. The Convention’s mandatory implementation of deterrent sentences plays a big role in the fight against the rising levels of violence against women and girls. It must be noted that naming public parks after the children the state fails to protect will not effectively reduce our losses, but proper sentencing surely will. We must remember Narin Güran and spread her tragically cut-short story.
