Mother found 'honour killing victim tied up the day before she was murdered by father'
By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:11 PM on 20th October 2009
'Tied up': The court heard how Tulay Goren's mother found her bound and face down on her bedroom floor
The mother of an alleged schoolgirl 'honour killing' victim wept today as she described finding her tied up the day before she was said to have been murdered.
Hanim Goren told jurors she discovered 15-year-old daughter Tulay lying face down on the floor in a bedroom with her hands and her feet bound.
She said her husband Mehmet, who yesterday collapsed in court as he heard his wife give evidence, told her that he had tied their daughter up to stop her from running away.
Mrs Goren wiped away tears as she gave evidence at the Old Bailey trial of Mehmet Goren and his brothers Ali and Cuma.
Mehmet is alleged to have killed Tulay because she fell in love with the wrong man, Halil Unal, a Sunni Muslim 15 years older then the teenager.
It is alleged Mehmet and her uncles Ali and Cuma in a 'family council' had
decided the pair must die because Tulay was seen as a 'valueless commodity' after losing her virginity to him.
In a bid to restore their reputation the family had reluctantly agreed the pair could marry but she was too young - and because of the gossip in the community, the family felt their honour had been tarnished forever, it was claimed.
Jurors have been told that Tulay went missing in January 1999 and her body has never been found.
The teenager had left the family to stay with Mr Unal but her parents brought her back on January 6 1999, the court has heard.
Mrs Goren said later that day she returned home with another daughter, 13-year-old Hatice, to find her husband Mehmet and his brother Cuma sitting downstairs, without Tulay.
In the dock: A court sketch of Tulay's father Mehmet (far right) with his brothers Ali and Cuma during their trial at the Old Bailey
'When we couldn't see her downstairs, Hatice and I ran up the stairs straight away,' she said, speaking through a Turkish interpreter.
'In the children's bedroom I saw Tulay lying on the floor face down. Her hands and her feet were tied up.
'Her hands and her feet were all a purple, black colour, tied. Hatice cried and screamed and jumped on her and the two of us tried to untie her.
'Tulay said "Mum, don't untie, I want to die". In the meantime Mehmet had come from downstairs - "don't untie, don't touch, don't untie," he said.
'Hatice and I were crying. After that Mehmet said "so that she doesn't run away again, I tied her up".
'Then after that I don't know who untied her, whether it was Hatice whether it was me or whether it was Mehmet himself I don't remember.'
Mehmet, 49, together with Cuma Goren, 42, and Ali Goren, 56 deny murdering Tulay on January 7 1999.
They also deny conspiracy to murder Mr Unal between May 1998 and February 1999.
Read more:
Mother found 'honour killing victim tied up the day before she was murdered by father' | Mail Online
Mother found honour killing victim tied up the day before she was murdered by father
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