TEENAGER BURIED ALIVE IN HONOR KILLING

TEENAGE GIRL LIKELY VICTIM OF ‘HONOR KILLING’
BURIED ALIVE IN TURKEY FOR TALKING TO BOYS

ISTANBUL (BBC News) - A 16-year-old girl has been buried alive by her relatives in a gruesome honour killing in Turkey as punishment because she reportedly befriended boys. Acting on a tip-off, police discovered 16-year-old Medine Memi's body in a six-feet-deep hole outside her house in the Turkish province of Adiyaman, 40 days after she went missing. Officers then visited Memi’s house, and found her body “in a hole, newly covered with concrete, next to the hen-house,” the BBC reports. She was found dead with her hands tied behind her back and minor bruises on her body. A post mortem revealed that she had soil in her lungs and stomach, meaning that she was buried alive, forensic experts told Turkish media. "According to our findings, the girl - who had no bruises on her body and no sign of narcotics or poison in her blood - was alive and fully conscious when she was buried." An anonymous specialist said: "The autopsy result is blood-curdling. Her father is said to have been angry the girl had male friends, and her grandfather had reportedly beaten her in the past for interacting with boys, according to a Turkish newspaper. Medine's father and grandfather have been arrested and jailed pending trial over her killing, local media claimed. The father is reported to have said in his testimony that the family was unhappy Medine had male friends. Medine Memi may have been the victim of an “honor killing.” Memi lived in Kahta, Turkey, a heavily conservative and religious south-east town.

While many “honor killings” are carried out by Muslims in Turkey, the practice has more to do with the regional customs of this Kurdish town than with religion. Apparently, if a female child is seen even speaking to a boy, there is “strong peer pressure from the community on the male members of the family to restore their honor.” An “honor killing” takes place after one family member commits an act that serves to dishonor the rest of the family. Members of the family then kill the one who committed the act, as defense of honor is seen as a justifiable reason for murder.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Activities which lead to heavenly enjoyment are called “punya” (piety) and activities which lead to hellish suffering are called “pāpa” (sin). … Sin is not a constitutional factor of the jiva, but rather takes shelter of the jiva in the conditioned state. Some actions or states (pāpas) are contradictory to the natural qualities (punyas) of the jiva: hatred, lying, cruelty, lust, envy, injustice. Cruelty may be directed towards human beings or animals. If a person acts cruelly towards other men he creates a disturbance to the world. A world devoid of mercy means a world filled with cruelty.

Śrīla Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thākura :
“Śrī Caitanya Śiksamrta: The Nectarean Teaching of Śrī Caitanya”
Second Chapter: “Punya karma - Meritorious Action”