(AKI) - A Pakistani man in Italy, Mohammed Saleem, and two male relatives, have been sentenced to 30 years in jail in the northern Italian town of Brescia for murdering his daughter, Hina Saleem. Hina's maternal uncle was also implicated in the crime and received a sentence of two years and eight months for helping to conceal her body.In what has been termed an 'honour killing' the Pakistani girl was allegedly killed because she had "dishonoured" her family and refused an arranged marriage. Hina dressed in western clothes, wore make up, worked in a pizzeria in the northern town of Sarezzo and lived with her Italian boyfriend. She was found with her throat slit buried in the garden of her family home with her head facing Mecca in August 2006. Her father Mohammed confessed to her slaying.
When the sentence was announced in the court on Tuesday, Hina's mother broke down and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The case shocked Italy and sparked a debate about the integration of Muslims in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.