The verdict was at a court of first instance and can be appealed.
Father protests innocence
Her father, who had been extradited to Italy in August to face trial after he was arrested in his village in eastern Pakistan on suspicion of murder, wept and protested his innocence in testimony given to the court on Tuesday.
“This trial is not complete. I too want to know who killed my daughter,” he said, according to local media reports.
Ms Abbas’ killing is one of a string of high-profile criminal cases in Italy involving the murder or mistreatment of women or girls who have rebelled against relatives insisting they enter arranged marriages.
In the wake of her disappearance, Italy’s union of Islamic communities issued a religious ruling rejecting forced marriages.
The teenager had emigrated to Italy with her family from Pakistan in 2016, according to local media reports.
Often pictured wearing red lipstick and a red headband, she has since become a symbol of violence against women in the country.
Parents’ anger over boyfriend
Prosecutors said Ms Abbas’ parents were angered when they discovered she had a boyfriend, reported to be of Pakistani origin.
Investigators said they had wanted her to travel to Pakistan for an arranged marriage in 2020, but she refused, leading to a row which resulted in her living for several months under the protection of social services.
She returned to the family home in April 2021 after receiving a flurry of messages from relatives, according to local media reports.
Prosecutors said she had been tricked into going back and disappeared afterwards.
Ms Abbas’ parents later alleged that she was killed when she returned to the family home to collect some documents.
