Indian woman Shahzadi Khan executed in UAE; Father’s plea for information disposed by Delhi HC
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court was informed on Monday that Shahzadi Khan, an Indian woman sentenced to death for the alleged murder of a four-month-old child, had already been executed on February 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The revelation came during a hearing in which her father, Shabbir Khan, had sought clarification from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) regarding his daughter's legal status and well-being.
Upon learning of the execution, Justice Sachin Datta expressed his sympathy, describing the development as "very unfortunate." Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, representing the Centre, confirmed the news, stating, "It is over. She was executed on February 15. Her last rites will be held on March 5."
Shahzadi Khan, a 33-year-old woman from Banda, Uttar Pradesh, had been arrested in February 2023 and later sentenced to death on July 31, 2023, after being convicted of killing a four-month-old child who was under her care. She had been imprisoned in the Al Wathba Jail in Abu Dhabi.
Shabbir Khan, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Banda, said there was "profound uncertainty" regarding his daughter Shahzadi's situation and his repeated applications to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for clarification were fruitless.
The plea further alleged that Shahzadi was inadequately represented before the local courts in the case over the alleged murder of her employer's four-month-old child and she was pressured into confessing, leading to the imposition of the death penalty on her.
During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel said his limited prayer was to know whether his daughter was alive or she had been hanged.
He said on February 14, Shahzadi had called the family from the prison saying that she would be executed in a day or two and this would be her last call. Since then, they were unaware of her well-being, he said.
The Centre's counsel told the court that the Embassy officials and the petitioner were in touch and arrangements were being made so that the family could attend their daughter's last rites in Abu Dhabi.
"We did our best. We hired a law firm there to represent her in court. But the laws there deal with the murder of an infant very severely," he submitted.
The petition said, "On February 14, 2025, the petitioner's daughter telephoned him from detention, informing him that she had been relocated within the facility and that, prior to her potential execution, her final wish was to speak with her parents.”
"The petitioner, with considerable effort, submitted an application dated February 21, 2025 to the Ministry of External Affairs, seeking to ascertain the current legal status of his daughter and confirm whether she remains alive or has been executed," it added.
The plea said the woman travelled to Abu Dhabi in December 2021 after obtaining a legal visa. In August 2022, her employer gave birth to a son for whom Shahzadi was employed as a caregiver. On December 7, 2022, the infant received routine vaccinations and tragically passed away that evening, it said.
The man claimed that the infant's parents refused consent for a post-mortem and also signed an agreement to waive further investigation into the death.
(PTI inputs)