‘Justice has finally been served': Meloni reacts as Italy's apex court upholds life sentences in Saman Abbas honour killing case
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Justice has finally been served': Meloni reacts as Italy's apex court upholds life sentences in Saman Abbas honour killing case")
Saman Abbas, an 18-year-old of Pakistani origin, was killed in the northern Italian town of Novellara in 2021 Photograph: (X)
Italy’s Supreme Court confirmed life sentences for the family of Pakistani teenager Saman Abbas, murdered in 2021 for rejecting an arranged marriage. PM Giorgia Meloni declared that justice was served.
Italy's Supreme Court has upheld the life sentences of five family members convicted over the murder of Pakistani-origin teenager Saman Abbas, bringing one of the country's most high-profile honour killing cases to a close.
The Supreme Court of Cassation confirmed the life sentences of Abbas' parents, Shabbar Abbas and Nazia Shaheen, as well as her cousins, Ijaz Ikram and Nomanul Haq. The court also upheld the 22-year prison sentence imposed on her uncle, Danish Hasnain, as reported by Italian news agency ANSA on Wednesday (July 15).
Reacting to the ruling, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the verdict marked the end of a long search for justice. "No verdict can bring her life back, but it is right that those responsible for this barbaric crime have been definitively convicted," Meloni wrote in a post on social media.
Saman Abbas, an 18-year-old of Pakistani origin, was killed in the northern Italian town of Novellara in 2021 after refusing to marry a cousin in Pakistan, in what prosecutors described as an arranged marriage.
Before her death, Abbas had sought protection from Italian social services and was placed in a shelter in late 2020. She also filed a complaint against her parents over fears for her safety. However, she returned to live with her family in April 2021.
The investigation began after police visited the family's home on May 5, 2021, and found it abandoned. Officers later discovered that Abbas' parents had travelled to Pakistan without their daughter.
Investigators later obtained security camera footage recorded on April 29, 2021, showing five people leaving the family's home carrying shovels, a crowbar and a bucket before returning several hours later. Prosecutors said the footage became a key piece of evidence in the murder investigation.
