Suvechha Sarkar
The community of Novellara in Reggio Emilia province, Italy, was left shaken when 18-year-old Saman Abbas suddenly went missing from her home in May 2021. However, the case quickly turned into a homicide investigation when officials discovered suspicious surveillance footage and a trail of troubled relationships that surrounded her. The case is explored in HBO Max’s ‘Saman: The Hidden Truth,’ which sheds light on her last moments. Moreover, it provides in-depth interviews with her brother and the officials who worked to bring the killers to justice.
Saman Abbas’ Remains Were Found More Than a Year After Her Disappearance
Saman Abbas was born on December 18, 2002, to Shabbar Abbas and Nazia Shaheen in a small village in Pakistan. Just 3 years later, the family expanded further with the birth of her younger brother, Ali Haider. According to Haider, the family faced financial problems while living in the village. In 2007, Shabbar emigrated to the town of Novellara in Italy’s northern region of Emilia-Romagna and began working at a farm there. In 2016, he brought Nazia, Saman, and Haider to join him at the farm. The family was later joined by Shabbar’s brother, Danish Hasnain, and Saman’s two cousins, Ikram Ijaz and Noman Ul Haq/Nomanoulaq Nomanoulaq.
After arriving in Italy, Saman attended Scuola Secondaria di Primo Grado “L. Orsi,” a lower-secondary school. However, after completing her education there, she didn’t pursue further schooling. Her brother remembered her as someone who was like a friend to him. She had gradually been welcoming Western ways into her life and loved using social media. By 2021, Saman found love when she met a Pakistani citizen, Saqib Ayub, and they soon began dating. Things took a turn when officials received a tip that the 18-year-old had suddenly gone missing. When they checked her home’s CCTV footage, they found her leaving with her backpack shortly after midnight on May 1, 2021.
Despite extensive efforts, authorities were unable to find out any information about Saman’s whereabouts. Eventually, the case took a turn when another unexpected tip informed the detectives that she might have been killed. On November 18, 2022, they uncovered Saman’s skeletal remains in an abandoned farmhouse near the farm her family worked in. Her remains were found buried in a roughly two-meter-deep pit. They also recovered her anklet, jeans, and other clothing items inside. The autopsy report revealed that the hyoid bone in her neck was fractured. Her cause of death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia resulting from strangulation or choking.
Witness Statements Led the Officials to Focus on Saman’s Family
After officials began investigating Saman’s disappearance, they visited her house several times, where they were unable to find her parents. According to reports, Shabbar informed his employer that he and Nazia left for Pakistan on the morning of May 1, 2021, to allegedly visit their sick aunt. Back at their Novellara home, police questioned Haider and Danish. As per police records, their accounts contained inconsistencies, although both indicated that Saman had left the house alone. When authorities reviewed the CCTV footage from Saman’s home, they discovered that she left shortly after midnight on May 1 with her parents. It also showed her parents returning a few minutes later without their daughter.
As investigators continued digging deeper, they learned that during a 2019 visit to Pakistan, Saman became engaged to her cousin, Akmal, after her parents arranged the marriage. Investigative reports suggest that when she eventually returned, she refused to marry her older cousin, which led her family to view her as “rebellious.” In June 2020, Saman left home to visit a man in Belgium and was initially reported missing by her parents. However, she eventually contacted them and later returned home. Official records indicate that the man then told law enforcement that he was fearful for Saman’s well-being. When local authorities investigated the matter, she asked them to help her get her documents back from Shabbar and Nazia.
On November 13, 2020, Saman was placed in a youth community home after she expressed that she was fearful of her parents. Eventually, she got into a relationship with a Pakistani citizen, Saqib Ayub, who was in Italy. After she went missing, detectives reviewed her and Saqib’s texts, which showed she returned to her house from the community home on April 20, 2021, to retrieve her documents. According to court records, it wasn’t long before authorities again questioned Haider, who told them that he had seen Danish grab the 18-year-old by the neck and kill her. In his statements, he insisted that Shabbar, Nazia, Ikram, and Nomanoulaq had nothing to do with the killing.
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A Trail of Digital Evidence Resulted in the Arrest of Saman’s Killers
Police records suggest that digital forensic experts discovered from Saman and Saqib’s text messages that she had told him that if he didn’t hear from her for a day or two, he should assume she is dead. Meanwhile, officials wiretapped Haider’s calls with Shabbar, in which the father asked his son not to tell anything to the police. After considering the evidence, officials tracked down Ikram in Nimes, France, and arrested him on May 29, 2021. On September 22, 2021, Danish was taken into custody in Paris, France. Nomanoulaq was subsequently arrested in Barcelona, Spain, in February 2022. Danish, Nomanoulaq, and Ikram were all charged with kidnapping and concealment of a corpse.
While Danish and Ikram faced another charge of premeditated murder, Nomanoulaq also faced the charge of complicity in premeditated murder. On November 15, 2022, Shabbar was arrested in Pakistan and charged with murder, kidnapping, and concealment of a corpse. While the four men were extradited to Italy, Nazia remained a fugitive but faced the same charges as Shabbar. In November 2022, Danish led the officials to the location where Saman’s remains were buried. The trial of Danish, Shabbar, Nazia, Ikram, and Nomanoulaq began on February 10, 2023. On December 19, 2023, the court found Shabbar and Nazia guilty of murder. It is essential to note that Nazia was tried in absentia. Danish was convicted of murder and concealment of a corpse. Ikram and Nomanoulaq were acquitted and released from custody.
While Saman’s parents were sentenced to life imprisonment, Danish was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Nazia was arrested in Pakistan in May 2024 and extradited to Italy. The prosecution later appealed the judgments, and in April 2025, the Court of Appeals convicted Shabbar and Nazia on the additional charge of concealment of a corpse and upheld their life sentences. The court increased Danish’s sentence to 22 years, while the acquittals of Ikram and Nomanhulaq were overturned. Both cousins were found guilty of murder and concealment of a corpse and were sentenced to life imprisonment. As of writing, Shabbar is incarcerated at a prison in Modena, while Ikram and Nomanhulaq are serving their sentence at the Casa Circondariale di Reggio Emilia in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Nazia and Danish are likely serving their sentence in prisons in Italy.
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