The jealous landowner who hurled himself off a lovers’ leap, dragging his beautiful girlfriend with him, told her: “If we die, we die together”.

This is the new, chilling detail that has emerged from the shocking suspected murder-suicide in Marmara Ereglisi, Tekirdag Province, Turkey, on 6th August.

Hours earlier, the couple had gone to a restaurant to celebrate their friend Merve Y.’s 32nd birthday.

After the meal, they had gone with Merve and her boyfriend Arda Tolunay Y., 26, to a nearby lookout point called Asiklar Tepesi, or Lovers’ Hill.

The group had already been drinking in the restaurant and they carried on at the viewpoint.

But a violent row soon broke out between Selcuk Cetiner, 41, and beautician Mehlika Derici, 35, allegedly out of jealousy.

According to the other couple, Cetiner pushed Mehlika to the ground before the two picked her back up.

He then allegedly shouted: “If we die, we die together.”

Before Mehlika could react, he clasped his arms around her waist and then hurled himself off the cliff, taking her with him.

The pair plummeted 25 metres (82 feet) to their deaths.

Paramedics called to the scene were only able to declare them dead.

They took their bodies to the morgue at Marmara Ereglisi Public Hospital, while police seized their mobile phones for analysis.

Some reports said victim Mehlika was a mother of two children.

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 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’ – “a digital memorial for women killed by violence” that is updated daily – 246 femicides have taken place in Turkey so far this year.