Pakistani girl killed in Italy after refusing arranged marriage

ROME: An 18-year-old girl of Pakistan origin, Saman Abbas, is suspected to have been killed by her family after she refused to marry through the arranged marriage system.

According to lieutenant colonel Stefano Bove of the Carabinieri police, the girl’s parents, an uncle and two cousins are under investigation for murder. All “are supposed to have taken part in the crime”, he told journalists.

Saman Abbas, who lived in the northern town of Novellara, last year rebelled against her family’s plan to have her wedded to a cousin in their home country. She turned to social services and in November was moved into a shelter home. She also reported her parents to police, but on April 11 returned to them.

The girl was later reported missing when the police reached her parents’ home on May 05 and found nobody. Upon further investigation, the police discovered that the girl’s parents had left for Pakistan without her.

The police also found images from a nearby security camera that made them fear the worst. Late on April 29, five people can be seen walking off from the house holding shovels, a crowbar and a bucket, and returning after about two-and-a-half hours.

The Carabinieri have identified the five as the family members suspected of murder. All are believed to have left Italy for Pakistan. Saman’s 16-year-old brother, currently protected in a secret location, has claimed that his sister was killed by her uncle Danish Hasnain.

Meanwhile, UCOII (the Union of Islamic Communities of Italy) has also expressed concern over the matter, which on its website announced that “it will issue – in concert with the Islamic Association of Imams and Religious Guides – a fatwa against forced arranged marriages and the equally tribal custom of female infibulation ”.

“The UCOII strongly rejects this type of conception of the female condition and of people’s lives in general,” a statement on their website said. “These are behaviors that cannot find any religious justification, therefore absolutely to be condemned, and even more so to be prevented,” it added.