Kriti Mehrotra
When Saman Abbas suddenly disappeared without a trace left behind on May 1, 2021, in the rural town of Novellara in Reggio Emilia, Italy, no alarm bells were immediately rung. The 18-year-old had a complex history since she had fled to Belgium the year prior and then spent the past few months in a youth facility, but there were also early suspicions of an “honor killing.” As chronicled in HBO Max’s ‘Saman: The Hidden Truth,’ the latter proved to be fact, leading to the apprehension of 5 of her family members, including her uncle, Danish Hasnain.
Danish Hasnain Allegedly Masterminded the Heinous Offense
It was sometime in the 2010s that Danish Hasnain followed his brother Shabbar Abbas from their village in eastern Pakistan to Novellara, Italy, to work seasonally on a local farm. He also brought along two cousins as additional labor – Ijaz Ikram and Noman Ul Haq – unlike the latter, whose first pr iority was to help his wife and two young children emigrate to be with him. He thus worked long, hard hours to better provide for his own family in their homeland, living with all his relatives as a community in the caretaker house provided by the farm owner.
Therefore, there were almost no secrets among the elders – they reportedly knew each other’s business in detail, and it wasn’t unusual for them to have discussions on the kitchen table. Danish was hence well aware of his niece Saman Abbas’ rebellion against authority, her parents, and their rules, including the way it pushed her to run away and how she behaved with her boyfriend. He also knew of the fact that the teenager was already arranged to marry a rather affluent elder landowner in Pakistan who was in their distant relation – they were officially engaged.
According to court records, Danish was hence furious when he learned the 18-year-old had exchanged some intimate messages with her boyfriend and saw a video of them kissing on his social media. In fact, the entire family was enraged by her actions, which started boiling over once she returned home from a youth facility in spring 2021 in the hopes of obtaining her documents. Her parents reportedly kept her official papers locked and refused to give them to her until she spent a few days with them, during which her uncle allegedly masterminded her murder.
Danish Hasnain Was Arrested in France Months After Saman Abbas Went Missing
While Saman was last seen leaving her home alongside both her parents shortly after midnight on May 1, 2021, it was a tip that alerted local police to her disappearance a few days later. Surveillance footage showed that her parents returned within minutes without the teenager, as if they had just dropped her off by the road because someone was coming to pick her up. That’s precisely what they claimed when officials spoke to them over the phone – the phone because they’d flown back to Pakistan on the afternoon of May 1, alleging they had to care for an ill aunt.
When deputies arrived at the scene, the only two people at home were Saman’s 15-year-old brother, Ali Haider, and her elder uncle, Danish Hasnain, both of whom agreed to be interviewed. However, the timelines they recalled were drastically different – while one claimed the teenager left home on her own accord in the afternoon, the other placed her leaving in the evening. The entire place was thus searched and their cell phones examined, but nothing came of it because no criminal activity could be pinpointed in any capacity. The authorities didn’t back away, though; they even searched the entire estate with K9 units and kept turning every stone until they suddenly learned the remaining family had left town too.
Danish was taken into custody in Paris, France, in mid-September 2021 under a European arrest warrant, stemming from Ali Haider candidly opening up to the police after being found. According to his accounts, he witnessed most of what transpired on the fateful night because he was standing in the open front door as his parents led his elder sister away. He testified that they walked her to a nearby area, where their uncle and 2 cousins were already waiting to jump her, adding that Danish then put his arm around her neck to hold her. He further stated he saw his uncle kill Saman, but continued to clarify Ijaz Ikram and Noman Ul Haq were also definitely involved – he never once explicitly implicated his parents.
Danish Hasnain is Currently Incarcerated in an Italian Prison
A lot of additional evidence was uncovered during the ensuing international inquiries, most of which indicated that all the adults in the house were involved in the heinous offense. There were voice notes from Saman herself telling her boyfriend she’d overheard the family talk about carrying out an honor killing, only for her mother to name someone else when she asked about it. Moreover, per court records, wiretapped phone calls/text messages showed a young Ali essentially being pressured by family to change his story, and the father later admitting, “I killed my daughter.” In the end, though, it was Danish who broke the case wide open a couple of days after his brother Shabbar’s arrest in Pakistan in November 2022.
After Shabbar was arrested, a still-detained Danish asked to speak with the authorities and agreed to lead them to the place where Saman’s remains were buried. He took them to an abandoned shed-like structure on the farm fields that were once his workplace and stated the family disposed of her in a 1-2 meter grave right inside the entryway. However, he denied any culpability by claiming he had awoken in the night and gone to look for his family, unaware the teen was dead. He even added that he only saw the grave because he refused to engage in any way; instead, he said, he returned home and went to bed. Danish maintained his innocence at every step, yet the evidence presented against him during his 2023 trial for concealment of a corpse, kidnapping, and premeditated murder was strong.
There was even surveillance footage from April 29, 2021, showing Danish and the cousins walking in and out of the shed with shovels, a crowbar, and a blue bag, indicating they had dug the grave in premeditation. He was ultimately convicted on the charges of concealment of a corpse and murder, for which he was handed down a sentence of 14 years in prison. The prosecution later appealed the case, dissatisfied with the removal of the premeditation in the judgment, the severity of his term, and the cousins’ acquittal. After further court proceedings, a ruling was made in favor of the appeal in April 2025, as a result of which Danish’s sentence was increased to 22 years for concealment of a corpse and premeditated murder. Thus, he likely remains incarcerated in an Italian prison to this day.
Read More: Saman Abbas Murder Details and Investigation Timeline
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