The father and grandfather of a 16-year-old Turkish girl will face trial for burying her alive because she had developed friendships with boys.

The body of Medine Memi was found in a sitting position with her hands tied in a 6ft hole dug underneath a chicken coop outside her family's home in Kahta, south eastern Turkey, 40 days after she had been reported missing.

According to a post mortem examination, a large amount of soil in her lungs and stomach revealed that she had been buried while conscious and suffered a slow and agonising death.

Police made the grisly discovery in December after a tip-off from an informant about the 'honour' killing, according to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. The hole had been cemented over.

One official involved in the case said: 'The report is blood curdling. 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.'

Medine's father and grandfather are said to have been arrested and held in custody pending a trial. It is unknown whether they have been charged.

The girl's mother was arrested, but later released.

Media reports said the father had told relatives he was unhappy that his daughter - one of nine children - had male friends.

He is reported as saying at the time: 'She has male friends. We are uneasy about that.'

The grandfather is also alleged to have beaten her for having relations with the opposite sex.

It also emerged that Medine had tried to report that she had been beaten by her father and grandfather days before she was killed.

After Medine's body was found in December, her mother Immihan said: 'She tried to take refuge at the police station three times, and she was sent home three times.'

The murder will reopen the debate about 'honour' killings in Turkey, which are particularly prevalent in the predominantly Kurdish south-east of the country.

Official figures state there are more than 200 such killings a year, around half of all murders in Turkey.

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