An Italian appeals court on Friday upheld life sentences for a Pakistani couple convicted of murdering their 18-year-old daughter, Saman Abbas, in an "honor killing" after she refused an arranged marriage.
The case, which shocked Italy, became a powerful symbol of the abuse faced by immigrant women who defy rigid family traditions. The court in Bologna confirmed that Abbas was killed with the involvement of her entire family.
Life sentences were reaffirmed for her father, Shabbir Abbas, and mother, Nazia Shaheen. Two cousins, previously acquitted by a lower court, also received life sentences. Her uncle, Danish Hasnain, saw his original 14-year sentence increased to 22 years.
The trial, held in Reggio Emilia, became one of Italy’s most high-profile cases involving violence against immigrant women resisting forced marriages.
So-called honor killings remain common in Pakistan, where women who reject traditional norms or choose their own partners are sometimes killed by relatives.
Saman Abbas moved from Pakistan to Novellara in northern Italy as a teenager and quickly adopted a more Western lifestyle. She stopped wearing a headscarf and began dating a young man of her choice. A photo posted to social media showing the couple kissing in Bologna reportedly enraged her parents, who had planned for her to marry a cousin in Pakistan.
She was last seen alive on April 30, 2021, walking with her parents near the watermelon fields where her father worked. Her body was discovered 18 months later, in November 2022, buried near an abandoned farmhouse in the same area. An autopsy revealed a broken neck bone, likely from strangulation.
Prosecutors believe she was killed on May 1, 2021. Days later, her parents fled to Pakistan. Her father was later extradited to Italy; her mother, convicted in absentia, was arrested in May 2023 after three years on the run.
The trial began in February 2023. All five family members denied the charges.
In response to the case, Italy’s Islamic communities issued a religious ruling against forced marriages. Italy also criminalized coerced marriages abroad involving citizens or residents in 2019 under its domestic violence laws.