MILAN (AP) — A court in northern Italy convicted the parents and an uncle of an 18-year-Pakistani woman for her murder in Italy after she refused her family’s demands to marry a cousin in their homeland.
Italian prosecutors argued that she was was killed by her family on May 1, 2021.
A few days later, her parents flew from Milan to Pakistan.
The parents, Shabbar Abbas and Nazia Shaheen, were sentenced to life in prison, while her uncle, Danish Hasnain, was handed a 14-year prison term by a court in Reggio Emilia.
Abbas, who was extradited from Pakistan in August, professed his innocence during a tearful statement to the court before deliberations.
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. »