(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 7 - The boyfriend of Sam Abbas, an 18-year-old Pakistani-Italian woman allegedly killed by her family near Reggio Emilia in April-May 2021 for refusing an arranged marriage with an older man in Pakistan, is to stand as civil plaintiff in the trial of her relatives starting Friday in Reggio, judicial sources said Tuesday.
    Saqib Ayub wants to see justice done for his late girlfriend and will use any damages to set up a foundation against 'honour killing' and to help victims of forced marriages in her name, his lawyer Claudio Falleti said.
    "If we ever get any money, we will use it to open a Saman Foundation to safeguard victims of forced marriages," Falleti told QB-Il Resto del Carlino newspaper.
    The young man will not be present in the courtroom Friday, Falleti said.
    "Only I will go. He doesn't want to see those monsters," he said, referring to three of the five defendants who will be in the dock: Danish Hasnain, Saman's uncle, and her two cousins Ikram Ijaz and Nomanhulaq Nomanhulaq.
    Missing will be the late young woman's mother, Nazia Shaheen, still on the run in Pakistan, and her father Shabbar Abbas, in jail in Pakistan, which has yet to grant his extradition to Italy.
    Falleti called the delays in the extradition process "unacceptable". (ANSA).