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Murder of Hina Saleem

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Hina Saleem (19 December 1985 – 11 August 2006[1]) was a Pakistani woman resident in Italy who was the victim of an honour killing,[2] in Zanano di Sarezzo, province of Brescia, Lombardy, Italy.[3]

Hina Saleem
Born(1985-12-19)19 December 1985
Gujrat, Pakistan
Died11 August 2006(2006-08-11) (aged 20)
Zanano di Sarezzo, Italy
Resting placeMonumental Cemetery of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
NationalityPakistani
OccupationServer at a pizza parlour
Known forHonour killing victim

Background

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Saleem was born in Gujrat, Pakistan. Her father Mohammad Saleem began living in Italy circa 1996 and worked in a saucepan factory there. Hina worked as a server at a pizza parlour and had an Italian boyfriend, a carpenter,[4] who she cohabitated with.[2]

Mohammad expressed disagreement with Hina's life choices after the family arrived in Italy, complaining about her Westernisation due to the Western boyfriend and her habit of smoking cigarettes, and he instead wanted her in an arranged marriage.[2] Authorities stated that the family gave considerable pressure against Hina to get her to return to Pakistan for marriage. Peter Popham of The Independent wrote that in regards to Hina and her family, "Her relations with them had been strained for years."[4]

Whilst Saleem was of immigrant origins and a resident of Northern Italy, honour killings had long been an issue with the native Southern Italian population; Italian laws previously allowed for the pardoning of crimes for honour reasons, but these laws were repealed in 1981.[4][5] Until 1981, Italian law was permissive of honour killings under certain circumstances, with the Criminal Code providing mitigating circumstances for such killings; until 1981 the law read: "Art. 587: He who causes the death of a spouse, daughter, or sister upon discovering her in illegitimate carnal relations and in the heat of passion caused by the offense to his honour or that of his family will be sentenced from three to seven years. The same sentence shall apply to whom, in the above circumstances, causes the death of the person involved in illegitimate carnal relations with his spouse, daughter, or sister."[6][7] The murder of Saleem brought Italy’s own history of honour killing into discussion.[4]

Crime

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Mohammad contacted Hina and asked her to come to the house in Brescia to meet a cousin visiting in the area.[4] There Mohammad slit Hina's throat twenty-eight times.[2] Hina's boyfriend reported her missing on Saturday 19 August 2006 and the Carabinieri searched the house, finding the body buried in the garden and blood in Hina's bedroom.[4][8]

Aftermath

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Saleem was buried in the Muslim section of Monumental Cemetery of Brescia (a.k.a. Cimitero Vantiniano) in Brescia.[9] Mohammad received a prison sentence of 30 years.[2] In 2016 Saleem's mother stated that she forgave her husband, and that the media articles inaccurately portrayed the family as being against western culture when this was not the case.[3]

On 11 August 2007, the Centro di salute internazionale e medicina transculturale (Centre of International and Intercultural Health) of Brescia, was dedicated to Hina.

In November 2007, Saleem's father and two of her brothers-in-law were each convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.[10]

Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato stated that the event made him reconsider a plan to reduce the waiting period for Italian citizenship; he previously proposed reducing it from ten to five. Popham wrote the event "has sparked a fierce debate in Italy about how to deal with the "clash of civilisations".[4] L'Osservatore Romano criticised the event.[4]

Marco Ventura and Giommaria Monti co-wrote a book called Hina: questa è la mia vita ("Hina: This is my life").[2]

See also

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Bibliography

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  • Monti, Giommaria; Marco Ventura (2011). Hina: questa è la mia vita (in Italian). Edizioni Piemme. ISBN 978-88-566-1488-6.

Honour killings of people of Pakistani heritage outside of Pakistan

References

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  1. ^ Cittadini, Andrea (6 October 2017). "Hina e quella tomba abbandonata senza volto e avvolta nell'erba". Giornale di Brescia (in Italian). Retrieved 6 December 2019. - The gravestone in the article shows her birth and death dates.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kennedy, Duncan (10 February 2011). "Murdered by her father for becoming a Western woman". BBC. Retrieved 3 December 2019. The BBC has been given access to that interview which gives a rare insight into the mind of a perpetrator of "honour killing".
  3. ^ a b Fasano, Giusi (22 January 2016). "Hina, Murdered in 2006 by Father. Mother "Forgives Him"". Corriere della Sera. Translated by Simon Tanner. Retrieved 6 December 2019. - Original Italian version: "Hina, sgozzata 10 anni fa dal padre La mamma: «Ma io lo perdono»"
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Popham, Peter (20 August 2006). "Murder of Muslim girl 'rebel' by her father shocks all Italy". The Independent. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  5. ^ Nunzia, Vallini (19 August 2006). "Mi hanno tolta da scuola perchè fumo. E mi picchiano perchè faccio la cristiana". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). p. 17. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  6. ^ "National Report: Italia (Daphne Project "Proposing New Indicators: Measuring Violence's Effects. GVEI")" (PDF). July 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Omicidio e lesione personale a causa di onore". Diritto24. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  8. ^ Corvi, Luigi (14 November 2007). "Hina, il padre e due cognate condannati a trent'anni". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). p. 27. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Al Vantiniano la sua tomba nel campo musulmani". Bresciaoggi (in Italian). Edizioni Brescia S.p.A. 11 August 2016. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  10. ^ "Italy jails Pakistanis for murder". 13 November 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2023.

Further reading

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