The court upheld a life sentence for both the teenager's father, Shabbir Abbas, and her mother, Nazia Shaheen.
Two cousins, who had been previously cleared by a lower court, were also sentenced to life in prison. Saman's uncle, Danish Hasnain, was also sentenced to 22 years in prison for his involvement in the murder. He had previously been given a 14-year sentence.
The court case, in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, became the most high-profile of several criminal investigations in Italy in recent years dealing with the slaying or mistreatment of immigrant women or girls who rebelled against their family's insistence that they marry someone chosen for them.
So-called honour killings are common in Pakistan, where family members and relatives sometimes kill women who don't follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry someone of their own choice.
Abbas' Body was Found at an Abandoned Farmhouse in November 2022, Parents Fled to Pakistan After the Murder
According to prosecutors, Abbas was murdered by her family members on May 1, 2021. A few days later, her parents flew from Milan to Pakistan.
Abbas, 18, went missing from the Italian city of Reggio Emilia on April 30, 2021, and her body was found in November 2022. Her body was dug up in November 2022 in an abandoned farmhouse near the fields where her father worked in northern Italy — a year and a half after she was last seen alive on surveillance video walking near the same fields with her parents.
After the murder of Abbas, an autopsy revealed that the young woman had a broken neck bone, possibly caused by strangulation. She had emigrated as a teenager from Pakistan to a farm town, Novellara, in Italy's northern region of Emilia-Romagna. Abbas' parents flew from Milan to Pakistan after the murder.
Abbas Killed for Refusing to Marry Cousin in Pakistan, Posting Photo of Herself Kissing Boyfriend
Prosecutors said she was killed by her family after she refused her family's demands to marry a cousin in their homeland, as reported by The Associated Press.
Authorities in Italy have Abbas had quickly embraced Western ways after moving to Italy, including shedding her headscarf and dating a young man of her choice. 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. Abbas had reportedly told her boyfriend that she feared for her life, because of her refusal to marry an older man in her homeland.
Abbas' father was later arrested in Pakistan and extradited to Italy for prosecution. Her mother was convicted in absentia but was arrested in May last year after three years on the run.
In 2019, Italy made coercing an Italian citizen or resident into marriage, even abroad, a crime covered under domestic violence laws. Following Abbas' disappearance, Italy's union of Islamic communities issued a religious ruling rejecting forced marriages.
