Parents get life in prison for murdering daughter for resisting arranged marriage

ROME: A Pakistani couple in Italy has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering their daughter who refused an arranged marriage. Saman Abbas, an 18-year-old girl who lived with her parents in Novellara, near Bologna in Italy, was killed in 2021 for resisting the marriage as she was in a relationship with another.

The court had earlier sentenced the girl's uncle to life imprisonment in the case. One of the accused, the girl's mother, is still absconding. As per reports, she has entered Pakistan.

The girl's parents asked her to marry a relative in Pakistan, which Saman did not agree. Her family did not approve of her relationship with a man of her choice. With this, Saman decided to go with his boyfriend in April. Meanwhile, the girl went missing. A year after the incident, the police found the dead body of Saman Abbas from a farmhouse. Reports claim that the girl may have been killed on the night of April 30.

At the time of the suspected murder, the police received footage of the girl's father, uncle and relatives leaving the house with buckets, earthen pots etc. The information about the murder surfaced after questioning the relatives. The parents decided to kill their daughter for wanting to go with her boyfriend. Then they called Saman's uncle and strangled her to death. Later, with the help of relatives, the body was brought to the farm and buried.

After the murder, the accused left Italy. The girl's father, Shabbar Abbas, was arrested by the police in Pakistan. He was transferred to Italy in August 2023. The girl's uncle, Danish Hassan, was arrested from France. The court acquitted two relatives of the girl in the case.