ROME: An Italian appeals court Friday upheld life sentences for a Pakistani couple convicted of murdering their 18-year-old daughter in a so-called honor killing after she refused an arranged marriage.
The case shocked many Italians and became a symbol of the brutal mistreatment of immigrant women who rebel against inflexible family rules.
The appeals court in the northern city of Bologna said that Saman Abbas, whose body was found at a farmhouse in 2022, 18 months after she disappeared, was killed with the participation of the whole family.
The court upheld a life sentence for both the teenager’s father, Shabbir Abbas, and her mother, Nazia Shaheen. It also sentenced to life in prison two cousins who had been previously cleared by a lower court.
Saman’s uncle, Danish Hasnain, was also sentenced to 22 years in prison for his involvement in the murder. He had been previously given a 14-year sentence.
The court case, in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, became the most high-profile of several criminal investigations in Italy in recent years dealing with the slaying or mistreatment of immigrant women or girls who rebelled against their family’s insistence that they marry someone chosen for them.
So-called honor killings are common in Pakistan, where family members and relatives sometimes kill women who don’t follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry someone of their own choice.
Saman Abbas’ body was dug up in November 2022 in an abandoned farmhouse near the fields where her father worked in northern Italy. Italian prosecutors contend the woman was murdered by her family on May 1, 2021.
A few days later, her parents flew from Milan to Pakistan.
Saman Abbas’ father was later arrested in Pakistan and extradited to Italy for prosecution. Her mother was convicted in absentia but was arrested in May last year after three years on the run.
Abbas’ uncle, two cousins, her father and her mother went on trial first in February 2023. All the defendants have denied wrongdoing.
Saman Abbas had emigrated as a teenager from Pakistan to the farm town of Novellara in Italy’s northern region of Emilia-Romagna. She quickly embraced Western ways, including shedding her headscarf and dating a young man of her choice. In one social media post, she and her Pakistani boyfriend were shown kissing on a street in the regional capital, Bologna.
According to Italian investigators, that kiss enraged Abbas’ parents, who wanted her to marry a cousin in Pakistan.
The young woman was last seen alive on April 30, 2021 a few hundred meters (yards) away from where her body was discovered in surveillance camera video as she walked with her parents on the watermelon farm where her father worked.
Abbas had reportedly told her boyfriend that she feared for her life because of her refusal to marry an older man in her homeland.
An autopsy revealed a broken neck bone, possibly caused by strangulation.
In 2019, Italy made coercing an Italian citizen or resident into marriage, even abroad, a crime covered under domestic violence laws.
Following Abbas’ disappearance, Italy’s union of Islamic communities issued a religious ruling rejecting forced marriages.
Italian court upholds life sentence for parents of Pakistani woman killed by family
https://arab.news/v4w44
Italian court upholds life sentence for parents of Pakistani woman killed by family
- Court awarded death sentence to couple for killing Pakistani teen daughter in 2021 for refusing arranged marriage
- So-called honor killings are common in Pakistan, where family members kill women who don’t follow traditions
Ex-Pakistan spy chief sentenced to 14 years for engaging in political activities, misusing authority
Ex-Pakistan spy chief sentenced to 14 years for engaging in political activities, misusing authority
- Hameed was arrested in August 2024 over accusations he was involved in land grabbing, snatching property from housing society owner
- Pakistan military says Hameed provided all legal rights during court martial, can appeal against decision “at the relevant forum”
ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan spymaster Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed has been sentenced to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment by a military court after being convicted of engaging in political activities, violating the Official Secrets Act and misusing his authority and government resources, the Pakistan army said on Thursday.
Hameed, who served as the director-general of Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency from June 2019 until October 2021, was arrested in August 2024 over accusations he was involved in land grabbing and snatching valuables and property from the owner of a housing society. The military said at the time multiple instances of violations of the Pakistan Army Act post-retirement had also been established against Hameed, court martial proceedings had been initiated and that he was in the army’s custody.
Investigations against senior officers of Pakistan’s powerful army are extremely rare in Pakistan, where the military has ruled for almost half of the country’s history and wields considerable influence even during periods of civilian rule. The development takes place days after Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir was appointed as the country’s first chief of defense forces.
In its latest statement, the Pakistan military said court marital proceedings under Hameed began on Aug. 12, 2024, under the provisions of the Pakistan Army Act. It said the accused was tried under four charges related to engaging in political activities, violating the Official Secrets Act and misuse of authority and government resources, and causing “wrongful loss to persons.”
“After lengthy and laborious legal proceedings, accused has been found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 14 years rigorous imprisonment by the Court which has been promulgated on 11 December 2025,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The statement further said the military trial process complied with all legal provisions, adding that Hameed was provided all legal rights, including the right to select a defense team of his choosing. It said the former spymaster had the right of appeal at “the relevant forum.”
“Involvement of convict in fomenting vested political agitation and instability in cahoots with political elements and in certain other matters is separately being dealt with,” the ISPR said.
The military had said last year that Hameed was being investigated for creating agitation and unrest, which had led to multiple incidents of “instability,” including but not limited to riots by alleged pro-Imran Khan protesters on May 9, 2023.
The nationwide riots broke out when the former prime minister was briefly detained on corruption charges. Thousands of Khan supporters took to the streets in anger, allegedly torching government and military buildings across the country. This was done, the military said, at “the behest of and in collusion with vested political interests.”
The violence led to a nationwide crackdown against Khan’s supporters and party leaders. The former premier and his party deny they instigated people to attack military and government buildings.
Hameed is widely seen as close to being Khan, who has also been in jail since August 2023 on a slew of charges that he says are politically motivated.
In the past, Hameed, who retired from the army in December 2022, was widely accused by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of bringing down the government of his elder brother, Nawaz Sharif, in 2017.
The PML-N alleges Hameed worked with then opposition leader Khan to plot Nawaz’s ouster through a series of court cases, culminating in the Supreme Court’s disqualifying of him from office in 2017 for failing to disclose income and ordering a criminal investigation into his family over corruption allegations.
TOP CITY CASE
At the time of Hameed’s arrest in August 2024, the army said it had held a detailed inquiry against him in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court on a petition filed by the management of the Top City housing society.
The petition, filed by the owner of Top City, Moeez Ahmed Khan (applicant), said the former ISI chief “misused” his office and under his direction, crimes were committed against Moeez and his family, including raids on his residence and business offices and arrests of him and his family members.
The petition said the applicant and his family members were robbed of their properties, the applicant was robbed of his business properties and compelled to transfer his businesses into the names of those nominated by Hameed, and false cases were registered against the applicant, his family and employees.
“Complying with the orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan, a detailed court of inquiry, was undertaken by Pakistan Army, to ascertain correctness of complaints in Top City Case made against Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd),” the ISPR said last year.
Days after Hameed’s arrest, the Pakistani military said it had arrested three more retired officers in connection with the proceedings against the ex-spy chief.
Political parties and critics often accuse that the ISI spy agency interferes in politics and government in Pakistan. The military denies the allegations.
