Indian woman on death row executed in Abu Dhabi last month; MEA informs Delhi High Court
New Delhi/Abu Dhabi: Shahzadi Khan, an Indian caregiver who had been sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for charges related to the death of a four-month-old child, was executed in Abu Dhabi on February 15. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed the Delhi High Court of her execution on Monday, bringing an end to a prolonged legal battle and appeals for clemency.
The information was conveyed to a bench led by Justice Sachin Datta by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, representing the MEA. The ministry further assured the court that Shahzadi’s last rites would take place on March 5 in Abu Dhabi and that it would extend all necessary assistance to her family to facilitate the process.
The court, while acknowledging the submission, termed the situation "unfortunate" and disposed of the plea filed by Shahzadi’s father, Shabbir Khan. He had approached the Delhi High Court seeking directions for the central government to confirm the legal status of his daughter, fearing the worst after her appeals had been exhausted.
Shahzadi Khan, a 33-year-old caregiver from Banda district in Uttar Pradesh, had been convicted by an Abu Dhabi court in connection with the death of a child under her care. According to court records, she was taken into custody by Abu Dhabi police on February 10, 2023, and was later sentenced to death on July 31, 2023. Her conviction was upheld despite multiple appeals, and her death sentence was reaffirmed by UAE authorities on February 28, 2024.
According to her father's petition before the Delhi High Court, Shahzadi had legally travelled to Abu Dhabi in December 2021 on a work visa. In August 2022, she secured employment as a caregiver for a newborn child in an Emirati household.
However, tragedy struck on December 7, 2022, when the infant received routine vaccinations in the morning but passed away later that evening. While the child’s parents initially refused a postmortem and signed an agreement waiving further investigation, Shahzadi was later accused of wrongdoing and subjected to legal proceedings that resulted in a death sentence.
Shabbir Khan, in his petition, alleged that his daughter was coerced into confessing to a crime she did not commit. He claimed that a video of her purported confession, recorded in February 2023, was obtained through torture by her employer and their family. He further accused the Indian Embassy’s legal counsel of failing to provide adequate legal representation and pressuring Shahzadi into making a confession.
Despite efforts to appeal her conviction, her case was repeatedly rejected by UAE courts. Her final appeal was dismissed in September 2023, and the death sentence was reaffirmed in February 2024.
As a last resort, Shabbir Khan had submitted a mercy petition to the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi on July 11, 2024, pleading for diplomatic intervention. However, he never received a response.
On February 14, 2025, just a day before her execution, Shahzadi reportedly made a distressing phone call to her father from prison, informing him that her execution was imminent.
With her last rites scheduled for March 5 in Abu Dhabi, the MEA has assured the family of its full cooperation in facilitating the process.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
