A father in Turkey was recently arrested for burying his daughter's boyfriend alive after he refused to propose to her.
Ahmet Tokdenir, and his son, Akin, confessed to torturing and burying 16-year-old Onur Sandal alive after learning of the daughter's alleged sexual relationship, Yahoo News reports.
Sandal was reported missing by his parents in November 2013, and his body was found this month in a wooded area near Denizli. Surveillance video shows the father and son beating Sandal and, according to an autopsy report, the teen had been stabbed 65 times. Investigators know Sandal was buried alive because his lungs were filled with soil.
Akin turned himself in to authorities and confessed to the murder, and Ahmet was detained shortly afterwards. The pair said that Sandal was having a sexual relationship with Ahmet's daughter and refused to become engaged. Ahmet also told authorities that Sandal wanted a message delivered to his family.
"I'm dying. Tell my mother to give her blessings to me," Sandal allegedly said. "I have made her suffer a lot."
While Ahmet expressed remorse for the killing, he said it was "a matter of honour for us."
The location and condition of Ahmet's daughter is unclear.
Some cultures believe that when a person commits an act that is considered shameful to their family, they should be killed to preserve the family's honour.
Turkish Association of Women's Federations chairwoman Canan Gullu said that more needs to be done to protect vulnerable people.
"Laws have been made but they are not being applied," Gullu told the Christian Science Monitor. "Police stations don't work as they should and there are not enough safe houses for women."
Officials reported a 14-fold increase in "honour killings" in Turkey between 2002 and 2009. In the first seven months of 2009, some 953 women were murdered, or about one woman per day.
