The Delhi High Court was informed on Monday that an Indian woman, Shahzadi Khan, who had been on death row in Abu Dhabi for the alleged murder of her employer’s four-month-old child, was executed on February 15. This news came as a shock during a court hearing of a petition filed by her father, who sought updates on her well-being.
Justice Sachin Datta described the news as “very unfortunate” after Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma confirmed the execution and announced that her last rites would be conducted on March 5. The hearing was based on a plea by Shabbir Khan, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Banda, who expressed profound uncertainty about his daughter’s fate after her arrest and subsequent death sentence.
Shahzadi Khan was arrested on February 10, 2023, and sentenced to death on July 31, 2023. She had been held in Al Wathba jail in Abu Dhabi. The plea highlighted concerns about Shahzadi’s legal representation and alleged that she was coerced into confessing to the crime, which ultimately led to her receiving the death penalty.
During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioner emphasized his desperate need to know whether his daughter was still alive or had been executed, revealing that the family last heard from Shahzadi on February 14, when she informed them of her impending execution.
The Centre’s counsel informed the court that Indian Embassy officials were in communication with the petitioner and were coordinating to allow the family to attend Shahzadi’s last rites. He stated, “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.”
The background provided in the court outlined that Shahzadi traveled to Abu Dhabi in December 2021 on a legal visa to work as a caregiver. In August 2022, her employer gave birth, and by December 2022, the infant tragically passed away following routine vaccinations. It was also noted that the infant’s parents refused a post-mortem and signed an agreement to waive further investigation into the death.
This case has highlighted the complexities and challenges of international legal systems and the harsh realities faced by foreign nationals abroad, particularly in regions with stringent legal penalties for certain crimes. The execution of Shahzadi Khan marks a somber conclusion to a distressing series of events, leaving her family to grieve and question the circumstances that led to such a tragic outcome.
