INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightInstagram/Sana_Cheema2014Image caption
Sana Cheema was born in Pakistan, but was an Italian citizen
A court in Pakistan has acquitted the father, brother and uncle of a woman who died in a suspected honour killing last year.Sana
Cheema, 26, lived in Italy but died while visiting her family in Gujrat in April 2018.She was originally buried without an autopsy - but
when exhumed a cause of death was identified as strangulation.It was widely reported that she had been brought back to Pakistan for an
arranged marriage, but refused.Her friends also alleged Ms Cheema had wanted to marry a Pakistani-Italian man in Italy - a match her family
objected to.Ms Cheema was born in Pakistan, but lived in the northern Italian city of Brescia for most of her life
After she died during a visit back to her home country, her family blamed natural causes and buried her locally.Her death attracted a mass
of attention on Italian social media and newspapers there reported it as a suspected honour killing,After the outpour, Pakistani authorities
They found her voice box was swollen and a neck bone had been dislocated - suggesting strangulation
Three members of her family, including her older brother Adnan and father Ghulam Mustafa Cheema, were then arrested on suspicion of
All three were acquitted in a district court in Gurjrat on Friday, due to lack of "certain evidence"
Police had alleged that a confession was given, then retracted, during the investigation, Pakistani media reports.Italian Interior Minister
Matteo Salvini tweeted about the case, saying: "What a shame! If this is 'Islamic justice' there it's scary
A prayer for Sana" Viviana Beccalossi, a regional politician from Brescia, told Italian media that Ms Cheema had been "killed twice" with
the news.Human Rights Watch says that violence against women and girls remains a serious problem in Pakistan.Activists believe about 1,000
"honour killings" are carried out across the country every year
