THE mother of Saman Abbas, a teenager killed by her family in Italy in 2021, has been arrested in Azad Kashmir after being on the run for three years, Italian news agency Ansa reported on Friday.

The 18-year-old Italian-Pakistani woman went missing from the Italian city of Reggio Emilia on April 30, 2021, and her body was found in November 2022.

Nazia Shaheen, 51, had fled Italy after the murder, and an international arrest warrant was out for her, Ansa added.

The report, while quoting sources, added that the arrest was made a result of cooperation between Interpol and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

She has been moved to Islamabad where she appeared in court on Friday for the extradition procedure, Ansa added.

In August 2023, her husband, Shabbar Abbas, who also arrived in Pakistan after the murder, was extradited to Italy and is now in prison.

The couple was sentenced in absentia for life by a court in Reggio Emilia in December 2023 after being found guilty of homicide.

In their order, Italian judges said the victim’s mother “may have been the person who actually carried out the murder,” according to Ansa.

The judges also ruled out that the motivation for the murder was Ms Saman’s refusal to marry an older man in Pakistan, as has been widely believed. The killing was “spur of the moment” and in a fit of anger over the victim’s desire to leave home and live with her boyfriend, the Italian agency added.

The victim’s uncle, who was extradited from France to face the trial, was also sentenced to 14 years, while her two cousins were acquitted.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2024