Saman's parents tell appeals court they didn't kill daughter

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 20 - The parents of Saman Abbas who were handed life-prison terms in 2023 for the honour killing of the 18-year-old Pakistani-Italian near Parma two years earlier told an appeals Court of Assizes in Bologna on Thursday they had not murdered their daughter.
    "We left the house together, I saw Saman walk fast and then I saw her disappear", said her mother Nazia Shaheen.
    Her father, Shabbar Abbas, also denied seeing his daughter again after she had left the house on the night of the murder in spontaneous statements at his appeals-level trial.
    Both parents had fled to Pakistan following the death of the young woman after she refused an arranged marriage.
    Saman's uncle, Danish Hasnain, was given a jail term of 14 years for his involvement in the murder by the court of first instance.
    Two of her cousins were acquitted.
    The court of first instance ruled that Saman was murdered by her family at Novellara near Reggio Emilia on April 31 2021. (ANSA).