The other Saman Abbas, the girls who asked for help after the case of the young Pakistani girl killed by her family

«You will end up like Saman». This threat, the father's last, has reached a girl who is in her early twenties and, how Saman Abbas, lives in Novellara in the Reggio area. This young woman was forced into a long-distance arranged marriage via Skype with Pakistan. The straw that broke her camel's back was her death threat when she refused to let her return, to actually be with her husband, in Pakistan, a country where her mother had died when she was still a little girl.

At this point the girl called the social services to which she was entrusted and who had her moved to a safe place. And she reported: she had been married long distance, she said, to the uncle's son whom she accuses of killing her mother. Until that moment she had suffered and had not rebelled against the dictates of her 52-year-old father, his second wife and the brothers born from this marriage. They told her she had to keep it «behaviors appropriate to a good Muslim woman», he couldn't go out, study, see other people. Now they are accused of domestic abuse. Her father and stepmother cannot get close to her. The electronic bracelet has arrived for everyone.

At the Pressthe mayor of Guastalla, Camilla Verona, president of the Union of the eight municipalities of Lower Reggiana, including Novellara, explained: “After Saman, many girls, many victims, and not just Pakistanis, found the courage to come forward and ask for help.” There have been at least 5 or 6 cases in the area: girls now entrusted to social services who can study and create an independent life.

Even the mayor of Novellara, Elena Carletti, spoke about these girls. «These young generations who are trying to break through the cultural and patriarchal wall that surrounds them need all our support. Extraordinary economic and legislative tools would be needed to combat practices such as arranged marriage. We would need more staff trained and ready to intervene.”

In the city council meeting of 27 December, honorary citizenship was conferred to the memory and value of Saman. The motivation says: «Recognize Saman Abbas for his great strength in the fight for one's freedom of choice and personal emancipation». The girl is “a symbol of freedom and personal self-determination, to convey a clear and strong message against the unacceptable and violent practice of forced marriages”.

The mayor explains that it is «a recognition to Saman and, symbolically, to all those women who find themselves in similar situations today, so that can feel recognized and supported in the battle for those principles of freedom and dignity of the person as founding values ​​of our Constitution». The City Council will also approve the regulation establishing the Saman Abbas Fund to combat violence against women. The Municipality will pay, at the next budget change, the first contribution which we aim to integrate by collecting private resources and donations to finance scholarships, the training and specialization of the network's staff and the support given to these women victims of violence they need.