A 26-year-old Pakistani-Italian woman was strangled to death and did not die of natural causes in Punjab province of Pakistan, the autopsy report has confirmed.
Police claim to have arrested Sana Cheema's father, a brother and an uncle in the light of the autopsy report and charged them for her murder.
The report issued by the Punjab Forensics and Science Laboratory reveals that Cheema's cervical bone was fractured on April 18.
"Cheema's death was not accidental as she was strangled," the report says.
The incident took place in Kunja, Gujrat, some 150-km from Lahore.
The body of Cheema was exhumed on April 24 on the court's order as police suspected that she might have been killed in the name of "family honour".
Police high-ups initiated the probe after reports published in Italian media that Cheema was killed by her family members over marriage issue.
More From This Section
Cheema's family declared her death "accidental" and buried her in a graveyard far from their residence on April 18, raising suspicion.
"We have arrested Ghulam Mustafa along with his brother Mazhar Iqbal and son Adnan Mustafa for allegedly killing Sana Cheema. They have been booked under the murder charges," says police official concerned Waqar Ahmad.
He said the suspects will be interrogated after obtaining their physical remand from court.
According to reports, Cheema had been living in Italy since 2002 and was to return to Italy on April 19 but she was killed a day prior to her return. She wanted to marry an Italian man and had turned down proposals from within her family. She came to Pakistan some two months ago.
Cheema was working as a driving instructor in Italy.
The Italian foreign ministry had said it was keeping an eye on the case.
"We are determined to reach the bottom of the case and are in contact with the Pakistani authorities in this matter," the ministry said.
In 2016, the death of 28-year-old British national Samia Shahid and the shocking murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch by her brother had turned the spotlight on the so-called honour killings in Pakistan, sparking a fresh push to close loopholes allowing the killers to walk free.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, as many as 50 honour killing cases have been recorded in the country till April 1 this year, while 460 such killings came to light in 2017.
Around 1,000 women are killed in Pakistan every year in the name of honour.