Her family, of the Alevi branch of Islam, are Turkish Kurds who originate from Elbistan, Kahramanmaraş[4][5] and who arrived in the United Kingdom as illegal immigrants in the mid-nineties, later claiming asylum.

[7] He failed to adjust to his new life in the United Kingdom,[8] refused to learn to speak English[9] and adhered to what was described as the "feudal" culture existent in his home village.

Coming close to being excluded for truanting and smoking, her elder sister said she was rebelling "in a big way",[1] later stating "Tulay was caught in the middle of two clashing worlds.

"[9] During the school holidays of 1998, Tulay took a summer job at a clothing factory in Hackney, London where she met and then embarked on a relationship with Halil Unal.

[11][1][2] After her summer job at the factory ended the couple maintained daily telephone contact; on 10 December 1998, Mehmet Goren went to Unal's place of work, assaulted him and warned him to stop "bothering" his daughter.

[17] It is not known how she died, but police believe she was either smothered or strangled[7] and then buried temporarily in the back garden of the family home before being moved to an unknown location.

[11] In the intervening period between Tulay's disappearance and the later murder trial, Mehmet Goren was convicted of grievous bodily harm for the axe attack on Unal and jailed for five years.

[19] After initially corroborating her husband's story and maintaining that Tulay had run away, Hanim Goren was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and murder.

She noted that two kitchen knives, bin bags, and a washing line went missing after Tulay disappeared, that their garden had been dug up, and that her husband had visible injuries to his hands.

[11] Hanim was prepared to testify against her husband but, without a body and a case heavily reliant on hearsay evidence, the Crown Prosecution Service declined to proceed.

"[17][26] Halil Unal gave evidence from behind a screen, testifying that Tulay had called him the day after she was forced to go home, warning him: "don't come over.

[28] After the trial, Hanim Goren's bravery in testifying against her husband was praised by the police[29] and her daughter Nuray, who stated: "No one should fail to realise what this means within our culture.