NOVELLARA – White flowers, for the innocence and even the candor with which she met her death. And the prayer of Islam, recited by the important imam, who arrived specially from Bologna. Then they gave the shovel into the hands of their brother, so that he too could throw some earth on Saman Abbas’s coffin. One of our regrets, no one was able to save the girl who signed herself “Italian girl” on her social networks, killed by her own Pakistani family.
Three years after his death, his remains are buried. Poor remains, it must be said, because Saman had been buried carelessly by her killer, and found by the police only in November 2022. Identified thanks to the analysis of the dental arches, the autopsy had also revealed the fracture of the neck, the main sign of strangulation.
For this exemplary punishment – Saman had refused a forced marriage – almost the entire Abbas family was condemned by the Assize Court of Reggio Emilia. His father Shabbar, serving a life sentence together with his wife Nazia, still at large in Pakistan; 14 years to Uncle Danish, the material executor. Therefore the rebellious girl went underground forever, this time, in the presence of only her brother, the only one who understood what was happening in that house and in that clan.
Saman Abbas’ funeral in Novellara, the arrival of the coffin
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The brother in tears in front of the grave
Ali Haider, a minor at the time of the events, in tears in front of the grave. She asked for a private ceremony, and so the Novellara cemetery was closed to almost everyone. He was there, who chose the phrase to put on the tombstone: “You have always been the strongest and bravest sister. I will miss you every day, every moment, every night.” The imam was there Yassine Lafram, president of Ucoii, the Union of Islamic communities in Italy. And the mayor Elena Carletti, with a few others. About ten people in all, in the rain, watching the white coffin being lowered. But this tomb will become a monument of flowers and memories, as has already happened in the fields and greenhouses where Saman was killed, there still stands a small altar for her, of notes, photos, and soft toys.
Now it has a place of honor, precisely among the small tombs of the children of the town, and the large and much visited one of Augusto Daolio, singer and leader of the Nomadi, born and died in Novellara, family legend of the lower Reggio Emilia area, and also very a little further. “Augusto sang about freedom a lot, and this thing will always accompany him,” said the mayor, who is the daughter of Beppe, co-founder of the group.
Saman honorary citizen of Novellara
And then, Saman is an honorary citizen of this country of 13 thousand inhabitants, and almost 2 thousand are foreigners. Indians of Sikh religion, mostly, and secondly Pakistanis, employed in the fields and on cow farms, the second generations in mechanical and mechatronics companies.
She, however, was unable to do anything, after finishing middle school she disappeared from the radar, reappearing only after the complaint against her family, for a marriage she refused, but which they wanted at all costs. “In this small town, where coexistence and dialogue are priorities, a deep scar remains”, says the mayor. A gash, she calls it, and she remembers the images that no one here forgets, “the parents accompanying their daughter in the dark”, the footage from the surveillance cameras of the farm that housed the Abbass. From that darkness onwards, only the victim’s backpack re-emerged, in the hands of her father. The punishment was done, the dishonor remedied, all that remained was to bury it.
The imam: “Killed by those who were supposed to protect her”
“Betrayed and killed by those who were supposed to protect her”, Imam Lafram clearly says. Because “there are still rural communities, with tribal beliefs, who act like this. But we send a signal to those who think that religion was Saman’s number one enemy”, saying that “we are on the side of the victim and not that of the executioner. As a community we absolutely wanted to be at the forefront to say that we are on the side of women, who have every right to freely choose their destiny.” This was not the case.
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Therefore a girl like Nour El Huda Khamis cries a little in the rain: “Our religion does not foresee these terrible things, and I, who work in the community of via Munari in Reggio Emilia, know that the Koran lessons for children are almost always held by women, precisely because they have a better educational approach.” There is respect, she repeats, then she leaves towards the cemetery.
Funeral of Saman Abbas, Lafram (Ucoii): “Islam is on the side of the victims and women”
The procession in the village
In the evening, that respect turns into prayer. A procession of 400 people parades in silence through the town and arrives in Piazza Unità d’Italia. We pray in front of the new monument to Saman, right in front of the one to the fallen of the wars. A large image with her most famous photo, made of thousands of photos of women, and the title is “The courage to be free”. Representatives of five religions pray here in front: Muslims, Hindus, Catholics, Orthodox and Sikhs. It ends with a little applause, and let no one think that these are just useless ceremonies. The country is in mourning, the flags tied with black ribbons, in the bars people speak in whispers, or almost. Under the porticoes, the funeral announcement for this unfortunate girl is posted, as for all the other recently deceased inhabitants. She died miserable, strangled as is done with animals, she was buried with many honors, at least this one.
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– 2024-04-06 18:51:52
