Saman's boyfriend hopes she's still alive

(ANSA) - REGGIO EMILIA, JUL 23 - The boyfriend of an 18-year-old Italian-Pakistani girl who is believed to have been killed and 'disappeared' by her family near Emilia Romagna for refusing an arranged marriage in Pakistan at the end of April said Friday he hoped she was still alive.
    "I still have hope that Saman is alive," said the young Pakistani-Italian man, 21.
    "I'm a bit agitated, but I'm ready to tell everything I know," he said heading into a hearing on the case.
    According to her brother Saman Abbas was strangled by her uncle after refusing to marry an older cousin in Pakistan as her family had arranged for her.
    Police earlier this week gave up a search for her body near her home at Novellara but are still looking for her.
    Her family, apart from the younger brother, have fled abroad.
    But they are still sending threatening messages to the boyfriend, he told reporters after the hearing.
    The young man said he was convinced Saman was being "held hostage somewhere, and we have to keep looking for her". (ANSA).