Italy: Saman Abbas Case Update: Skull and Bone Fragments Discovered

The case of the missing 18-year-old Pakistani girl, Saman Abbas, believed killed by her family for refusing an arranged marriage, has taken another turn. Over the weekend, a man out for a walk along the Tiepido River in the town of Torre Maina, came across a cellophane bag containing a human skull and bone fragments along a river bed. The skull is believed to belong to a female, and forensic studies are underway to determine if the remains belong to Abbas, whose body has not been found. Three family members are in custody in Italy charged with her murder while her parents have fled to Pakistan. Torre Maina is roughly 50 kilometers from Novellara.

The below article from Il Giornale is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/cronache/teschio-e-ossa-sullargine-fiume-ipotesi-resti-saman-2023585.html

Skull and bones discovered on river bank. “It could be Saman….“

April 4, 2022-15:53

The bone fragments were found wrapped in a cellophane bag on the banks of the Tiepido River. A short distance away were also women’s clothes. Hypothetically remains of Saman Abbas

Rosa Scognamiglio

A skull and some bone fragments wrapped in a  cellophane bag. The macabre discovery that a resident of Torre Maina, in the territory of Maranello, came across while walking along the banks of the Tiepido River. The remains, apparently of a woman, were turned over to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for the requisite findings. According to what Il Resto del Carlino (news) reports, investigators do not exclude the hypothesis that they could belong to Saman Abbas, the 18-year-old Pakistani who disappeared from Novellara, in the province of Reggio Emilio last year. 

The human remains

The alarm went out Saturday night. Alerting the Carabinieri was a passerby who noticed the presence of a suspicious bag on the banks of the Tiepido, at the point where a small bicycle and walking path winds. Arriving at the scene of the report, the officers of the investigative unit searched the bag ascertaining the contents. It appears to be human remains-a skull and other bone fragments, to be exact, apparently female. The hypothesis is supported by the discovery of some women’s clothes at a location a short distance away from the cellophane packaging.

The hypotheses

At this time, no hypothesis is excluded. The remains were turned over to the experts at Forensic Medicine who will be tasked with determining the approximate age of the person they belong to. Not a negligible detail since it could provide interesting investigative clues. At this very time, the (officers) of the investigative unit, coordinated by the Prosecutor’s Office of Modena, are going through reports of disappearances recorded in the past months in an effort to give an identity to the victim. “It is a disturbing discovery, so we hope it will clarify the matter in as short a period as possible. In the meantime, the local government will remain at the disposition of the police in case they need assistance,” the mayor of Maranello, Luigi Zironi, commented.

Why they could be of Saman

According to the rumor picked up by Resto del Carlino, the investigators do not exclude that the bone fragments may belong to Saman Abbas, the 18-year-old Pakistani (who) disappeared from Novellara in April of 2020 (sic*). The hypothesis is supported by the criminal scenario presented by the Prosecutor’s Office of Reggio Emilia, according to which, the young girl was killed by relatives after opposing an arranged marriage with a cousin in her homeland. Subsequently, the cadaver was allegedly hidden. At any rate, it will be necessary to await the results of the forensic-medical findings to dispel any doubt.

* Saman Abbas disappeared in April 2021-translator.