Uncle killed Saman, brother confirms

(ANSA) - REGGIO EMILIA, JUN 18 - The uncle of an 18-year-old Pakistani girl killed her at the family home near Reggio Emilia at the end of April because she had refused an arranged marriage to an older man in Pakistan, her 16-year-old brother confirmed in testimony to a preliminary investigations judge Friday.
    Danish Hasnain, 43, strangled Saman Abbas at Novellara, the boy reiterated.
    Saman's mother lured her home from the shelter she had taken refuge in with a deceptive text message that said the family would respect her wishes, the Gazzetta di Reggio newspaper said Wednesday.
    According to the Emilian paper, Saman's mother sent her a text saying "please get in touch, come home. We are dying. Come back, we'll do as you say".
    The message was reportedly sent to Abbas in the youth home she had fled to after reporting her parents for trying to force her into the marriage with the older man she did not know in Pakistan.
    Saman went home on April 22, a week before she disappeared from Novellara near Reggio Emilia and is believed to have been strangled by her uncle Hasnain, before the family allegedly disposed of her body, which has yet to be found.
    Abbas's mother is under investigation along with her father Shabbar, who are both fugitives and believed to be somewhere in Pakistan.
    Also under investigation in the case are Hasnain, believed to have been the actual murderer, and her cousins Nomanulhaq (believed to be in hiding somewhere in Europe along with the uncle) and Ikram Ijaz, now in custody in Reggio and the only member of the family to have been arrested, in France on May 28 while trying to reach Spain.
    The search for Abbas's body goes on in and around Novellara.
    (ANSA).