Turkey: 3 suspects sentenced to life in prison over death of 8-year-old girl

A Turkish court on Saturday sentenced three suspects including family members to life in prison over the mysterious death of an eight-year-old girl in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, an AFP journalist reported.

The body of Narin Guran, which had been missing for 19 days, was found in September in a bag in a river around one kilometre from the village where she lived with her family.

After a day-long tense hearing, the court in Diyarbakir handed Narin's mother, elder brother and uncle an aggravated life sentence on charges of "deliberate murder in collaboration", the journalist the in courthouse said.

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.

The judge sentenced another suspect Nevzat Bahtiyar, who had confessed to the murder, to four years and six months in prison.

Narin disappeared on August 21, sparking a huge search effort in Turkey, with a number of well-known figures joining a social media campaign called "Find Narin".

• Suspect in New York City subway fire killing charged with murder, arson