Shahzadi Khan, a 33 year-old woman from Banda, Uttar Pradesh, was executed in the UAE on February 15, 2025, after her death sentence was upheld by local authorities. The Additional Solicitor General (ASG) informed the Delhi High Court on Monday, about the execution. 

Her father, Shabbir Khan, had been actively seeking assistance from the Indian government and the embassy in Abu Dhabi, but his repeated efforts, including clemency petitions and appeals to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), were unsuccessful.

Representing the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma and Advocate Ashish Dikshit informed the Delhi High Court that the Embassy of India in UAE received an official communication on February 28, 2025, from the UAE government. The communication stated that Shehzadi’s death sentence was executed on February 15, 2025, in accordance with UAE laws and regulations.

The infant killing case

Shahzadi Khan had been sentenced to death for allegedly killing an infant in her care. She had been employed as a caregiver in Abu Dhabi when the child, who had received routine vaccinations, died in December 2022.Though, the hospital recommended a postmortem, but the infant’s parents refused and signed a consent letter waiving further investigation. 

A video recording allegedly showed Shabbir’s daughter confessing to the infant’s homicide, a confession she claims was extracted through torture and abuse by the Employer and her family. On February 10, 2023, she was handed over to the Abu Dhabi police, and on July 31, 2023, she was sentenced to death for the infant’s homicide.

Despite legal aid from the Indian Embassy, Shahzadi’s defense was undermined by claims of mistreatment, including the forced confession. Her clemency appeal was dismissed in September 2023, and the death sentence was confirmed in February 2024. In the months leading up to her execution, Shabbir Khan filed several petitions requesting intervention, but received no response until after the execution was carried out.

(with ANI Inputs)