Italian Court Sentences Parents to Life for 'Honour Killing' of Daughter

Saman Abbas Murdered After Refusing Arranged Marriage; Case Highlights Violence Against Immigrant Women in Italy

Saman Abbas, an 18-year-old Pakistani woman living in Italy, was murdered by her parents and uncle after refusing to participate in an arranged marriage.
Abbas' parents, Shabbar Abbas and Nazia Shaheen, have been sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court. Her uncle, Danish Hasnain, received a 14-year sentence.
Abbas' body was found in November 2022, over a year after she disappeared. An autopsy revealed she had a broken neck bone, possibly from strangulation.
Abbas had emigrated from Pakistan to Italy in 2016. She had embraced Western ways, including dating a young man of her choice, which reportedly enraged her parents.
The case has become one of the most high-profile in Italy involving the murder or mistreatment of immigrant women or girls who rebel against family insistence on arranged marriages.