A village traumatised, a nation stunned: Who killed Narin?

Among Narin Guran's remaining belongings are a child-size metallic pink rucksack, a dainty pair of glittery silver sandals and a cream sweatshirt printed with a picture of a unicorn.

They are packed away under a bed in her family home, their owner long gone.

The eight-year-old girl loved clothes, reading and going on car trips with her father. In August 2024, she was murdered.

“After Narin, there is no life left for me. I can breathe, but every minute and every second without Narin is death for me,” her father Arif Guran, 44, told The National in an interview beside his daughter’s grave.

The cemetery is located in a small village, a cluster of breezeblock and concrete buildings in south-eastern Turkey’s Diyarbakir province, where the family lived, and where Narin was killed.

Narin’s killing was one of the highest-profile child murder cases in Turkey in recent history. It was grimly un-unique in the country of 86 million people. According to the FISA Children's Rights Centre, a civil society group based in the capital, Ankara, at least 50 boys and girls lost their lives as a result of crimes including murder and domestic violence in the first eight months of 2025.

Narin Guran was a little girl who loved clothes, reading and going on car trips with her father. Lizzie Porter/ The National

But for several reasons, Narin’s case shocked the nation more than most. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was personally following up on the case, to ensure the killers “receive the harshest punishment”.

The fallout from the case has produced so many allegations and counter-allegations over the identity of Narin’s killer that it has made headlines for over a year.

In December, her mother, Y. G., 45; her uncle, S.G., 46; and her older brother, E. G., 19; were handed aggravated life sentences for the murder of a child in concert. A neighbour and local construction worker, N.B., was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for “destroying, concealing or altering criminal evidence” after he admitted to dumping her body. In Turkey, an aggravated life sentence means the convict will stay in prison until he or she dies, although parole is possible after 30 years.

The decision of the local court is not final and is currently under appeal, set to be reviewed by the Supreme Court.

In its 929-page verdict, seen by The National, Diyarbakir Criminal Court said that it could not determine the person who actually murdered her. But per their findings, S.G., Y.G. and E.G. failed to intervene to stop her dying after someone began the act of her murder. “They did not prevent the person who initiated the act of killing, thereby participating in Narin's death,” the verdict read.

Every minute and every second without Narin is death for me Narin's father ,

Arif Guran

There was “no hostility or reason,” for N.B. to kill Narin, the court said. But he failed to provide information as to her body’s whereabouts during the search operations, despite later admitting to having dumped her body.

Interviews with lawyers, family members and local officials, together with an analysis of nine court documents and CCTV footage, raised allegations of inconsistencies and gaps in the judicial proceedings.

In May this year, during the regional court appeal process, the presiding judge in Diyarbakir made observations about the quality and thoroughness of the investigation, citing “insufficient examination”. He dissented from other judges and said the sentences should be overturned, although they were ultimately upheld in line with the majority view. The trial has not yet been finalised.

Lawyers for E.G., Y.G. and S.G., who held the position of the village headman (muhtar in Turkish), say their clients are innocent. They are now appealing to Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals – known as Yargitay – for their sentences to be overturned.

The legal teams claim that the investigation into Narin’s murder was incomplete, rushed and reliant on flawed data as well as the neighbour’s testimonies, which changed significantly over the course. Intense public scrutiny of the case before court proceedings were complete meant that the family was subject to trial by th