Saman Abbas's body identified

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 4 - A body found near her family home near Reggio Emilia in November has been identified as that of Saman Abbas, an 18-year-old Pakistani-Italian woman who is believed to have been killed for refusing an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
    The body was ID'd from her teeth, said a lawyer for the Penelope missing persons and women's rights group who is a civil plaintiff in a trial starting next month against five family members of the woman who disappeared at Novellara on April 30, 2021.
    The lawyer, Barbara Iannucelli, said a bone in Abbas's neck had been broken and further examination will be needed to establish if this injury was inflicted pre- or post-mortem.
    The fracture of the bone in the front of the neck would support the hypothesis that she was strangled by her uncle, as he has been charged.
    Other defendants in the trial include Abbas's father and two cousins, while her mother is still on the run in Pakistan.
    Abbas's alleged 'honour killing' after she refused the Pakistani man and stayed loyal to her Italian boyfriend has shocked Italy and garnered headlines ever since she went missing.
    "She was identified by a dental anomaly, thanks to photos and videos," said Iannucelli,.
    "The hyoid bone is fractured in the left side and histological investigations are needed to establish whether (it occurred) pre or post portem," the lawyer continued.
    "The fracture of the bone at the front of the neck would support the hypothesis of strangulation".
    The body was complete and wearing the same clothes as when she disappeared, Reggio Emilia Chief Prosecutor Calogero Paci told Italian TV after it was found on November 18.
    The uncle, Danish Hasnain, took police to the site of her burial after searches near the family home had proven fruitless, even with sniffer dogs, because the body was buried over two metres down.
    Her father was arrested in Pakistan in mid-November and is awaiting extradition while her mother is still on the run in the Asian country.
    A preliminary hearings judge (GUP) indicted the uncle, Hasnain, and her two cousins, Ikram Ijaz and Nomanhulaq Nomanhulaq, who were arrested in France and Spain respectively after fleeing Italy.
    Also indicted, in absentia at the time, were Saman's parents, Shabbar Abbas and Nazia Shaheen.
    The trial will start on February 10 next year. (ANSA).