A man who stabbed his girlfriend to death during a row and then claimed she had caused the injury herself has been given 24 years behind bars.

During the trial in Kirikkale, central Turkey, accused Tugrul A. claimed his girlfriend had stabbed herself in the chest after he had threatened to leave her.

The blow Elif Sinan had received to her chest was so powerful it broke one of her ribs, the court heard.

Grim video footage from 4th August last year shows him meeting with her in a cafe, and later running into Kirikkale Hospital carrying her slumped body in his arms.

The 24-year-old Kirikkale University student died from her serious injuries in hospital, and Tugrul A. was arrested by police.

He was remanded in Eskisehir L-Type Prison, north-western Turkey, from where he attended his trial via video link.

Throughout the trial, he maintained his innocence, demanding a full acquittal and his release from custody.

But his ludicrous claims were thrown out by the court, which noted that the knife blow the victim received was so powerful it broke one of her ribs.

The court ruled that the injury could not possibly have been caused by Elif herself, given her slender frame.

Judges, taking into account the glaring contradictions between Tugrul A.’s version of events and the evidence, agreed with prosecutors, who had been pushing for a murder conviction.

The defendant was found guilty of deliberate killing and sentenced to life imprisonment on 23rd November.

In Turkey, the minimum non-parole term for a life prisoner is 24 years.

The hearing was attended by Turkey’s Minister of Family and Social Services, Derya Yanik, who said: “By attending the decision hearing, we wanted to show once again our sensitivity in the follow-up of the cases of violence against women and femicide.

“As Turkey’s government, our main point of departure regarding violence against women is zero tolerance.”

Femicide is a growing problem in Turkey, particularly after the country officially quit the Istanbul Convention in July last year.

According to the 2021 Annual Data Report announced by the ‘We Will Stop Femicide Platform’, 280 women were killed by men in 2021, while 217 women were found suspiciously dead.

According to data from the ‘Monument Counter’, which is “a digital memorial for women killed by violence” and is updated daily, 346 femicides have taken place in Turkey so far this year.