A woman from Uttar Pradesh who was facing capital punishment in the UAE for the death of an infant under her care was executed on February 15, the external affairs ministry informed Delhi High Court on Monday.
Additional solicitor-general Chetan Sharma, representing the Centre, told Justice Sachin Datta that Shahzadi Khan’s death sentence was executed in accordance with the laws and regulations of the UAE.
The court was dealing with a plea by Shahzadi’s father Shabbir Khan seeking to know the exact legal status of her 33-year-old daughter.
Advocate Ali Md Maaz, who represented Shabbir, said Shahzadi’s family had been informed that they could visit the UAE by March 5 to attend her last rites but Shabbir had declined the offer.
The Indian embassy in the UAE received an official communication on February 28 regarding Shahzadi’s execution.
A UAE court had on July 31, 2023, handed the death penalty to Shahzadi in connection with the death of a four-month-old baby who had been placed under her care.
According to Shabbir’s petition, Shahzadi had 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 but passed away that evening, it said.
The petitioner claimed that the hospital had recommended a post-mortem but the child’s parents refused consent, buried him and also signed an agreement to waive further investigation into the death.
The plea mentioned a video recording that purportedly showed Shahzadi confessing to the infant’s “murder”.
“This confession is alleged to have been extracted involuntarily through torture, battery, humiliation and abusive conduct by the employer,” the petitioner claimed.
Shahzadi was arrested by the Abu Dhabi police on February 10, 2023, and lodged in the Al Wathba jail.
On February 14 this year, Shabbir received a call from her daughter in which she talked of her imminent execution. He approached the external affairs ministry on February 20 seeking an inquiry into her daughter’s legal status and later moved the high court.