Italy jails Pakistanis for murder

Hina Saleem's "Western" habits reportedly angered her family

An Italian court has sentenced the father and two brothers-in-law of a young Pakistani immigrant woman to 30 years in prison each for her murder.

Hina Saleem was killed last year because her family disapproved of her lifestyle, prosecutors said.

The 21-year-old woman had been living with an Italian boyfriend and had reportedly refused to marry a man chosen by her family to be her husband.

A prosecutor had described her killing as the result of a clash of cultures.

The chief prosecutor of the town of Brescia, Giancarlo Tarquini, said at the start of the trial that the murder was "a confrontation between customs in a multi-ethnic society".

Hina Saleem's body was found buried in the garden of her family's home in Sarezzo, near the town of Brescia in north-eastern Italy in August last year.

Her throat had been cut. Police found bloodstains in her bedroom.

An uncle of the girl was convicted of helping conceal her body and received a jail sentence of two years and eight months.

The right-wing Italian MP Daniela Santanche, who had followed the trial from its beginning, said she was "totally satisfied" with the verdict, adding that it set an example to others.

A defence lawyer told the AFP news agency he hoped to appeal for lighter sentences.

Saleem's family were Muslims from Pakistan who had been living in Italy for about five years.