Newswire
Rome: Italy’s highest court this week upheld the murder convictions and life sentences of the parents and relatives of Pakistani-origin teenager Saman Abbas, bringing to a close one of the country’s most high-profile “honour killing” cases.
The Supreme Court of Cassation, Italy’s highest court of appeal, confirmed the life sentences of Abbas’ parents, Shabbar Abbas and Nazia Shaheen, along with her cousins, Ijaz Ikram and Nomanul Haq. The court also upheld the 22-year prison sentence handed to her uncle, Danish Hasnain.
Saman Abbas, 18, who lived with her family in the northern Italian town of Novellara, was killed in 2021 after refusing an arranged marriage to a cousin in Pakistan, according to Italian authorities.
Investigators said Abbas had opposed her family’s plans and had sought protection from Italian social services in 2020. She was placed in a shelter and reported her parents to police before returning home in April 2021.
Her disappearance triggered a police investigation after officers visited the family home in May 2021 and found it deserted. Authorities later discovered that her parents had fled to Pakistan without her.
Security camera footage recorded days before her disappearance showed five family members leaving the house carrying shovels, a crowbar and a bucket before returning several hours later, evidence that became central to the prosecution’s case.
Following an international manhunt, both parents were extradited from Pakistan to Italy to stand trial.
The Supreme Court’s ruling makes the convictions final, concluding a lengthy legal process that drew widespread attention in Italy and internationally as a landmark case involving violence linked to forced marriage.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed the verdict, saying the judicial process had reached its conclusion. She said that while no ruling could restore Abbas’ life, those responsible for the “barbaric crime” had now been definitively convicted.
