The mother of Saman Abbas, an
18-year-old Italian-Pakistani woman killed by her family at
Novellara near Reggio Emilia on the night between 30 April and 1
May 2021, has been arrested in Pakistan, sources said on Friday.
Nazia Shaheen, 51, was given a life sentence by a court in
Reggio Emilia in December after being found guilty in absentia
of her daughter's homicide, along with her husband, Shabbar
Abbas.
She was a fugitive, having fled Italy after the murder, and an
international arrest warrant was out for her.
The father had also left the country but was extradited to Italy
from Pakistan and is behind bars here.
The sources said Shaheen was tracked down in a village on the
border of Kashmir thanks to cooperation between Interpol and the
Pakistan Federal Police.
They said she has been transferred to Islamabad, where she
appeared in court on Friday, for the extradition procedures.
In their explanation of the sentence, the Italian judges said
Shaheen may have been the person who actually carried out the
murder.
The judges also said they had ruled out the motivation of the
murder being Saman's alleged refusal of an arranged marriage
with an older man in Pakistan, saying the killing had been "spur
of the moment" and in apparent anger at the young woman wanting
to leave home and go to live with her boyfriend in a
Western-style arrangement.
Saman's uncle, Danish Hasnain, was given a jail term of 14 years
for his involvement in the homicide, while two of her cousins
were acquitted.
Her body was found at a farmhouse near where the family lived in
November 2022, 18 months following her disappearance, after the
uncle had revealed where she had been buried.
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