News Analysis India

Tag: Shabnam

  • Death-row convict Shabnam shifted to district jail in Bareily after security breach

    By PTI
    BAREILLY: Death-row convict Shabnam was shifted to the district jail here on Monday after a photograph of her in another jail where she was lodged till now went viral on social media.

    The picture was apparently clicked on January 26 in Rampur.

    The incident was taken as a breach of security and a violation of the jail manual.

    Bareilly jail superintendent P Singh confirmed that Shabnam, who may be the first woman to be hanged in India since Independence, had been shifted to the district jail.

    A photo of Shabnam in Rampur had gone viral on social media and the jail administration decided on shifting her in view of the security concerns, jail superintendent P D Salonia said.

    The Rampur jail authorities had conducted an inquiry in this connection and suspended two jail guards, Salonia said.

    Shabnam, who is from Babankhedi village of Amroha, had killed seven members of her family on the night of April 14-15, 2008, along with her lover Salim.

    Both have been awarded death sentences by the court.

    Shabnam was lodged in Rampur jail since July 2019. The President had rejected the mercy petition of Shabnam and Salim.

    Her counsel has filed a fresh mercy petition before Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel.

    The jail superintendent said a death warrant for Shabnam’s hanging was sought from the Amroha court, which refused it after being informed about the pendency of mercy petition.

  • Day after clemency plea to President, death row convict Shabnam appeals to UP Governor for mercy

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: The murder convict Shabnam, who is facing gallows for hacking seven members of her family to death in 2008, has petitioned UP Governor Anandi Ben Patel for mercy. 

    Notably, Shabnam’s mercy petition was rejected in 2015 by the then President of India Pranab Mukherjeee. On Thursday, Shabnam’s 12-year-old son Taj had urged President Ram Nath Kovind to forgive her.

    As per the sources, two lawyers of Shabnam had met her on Thursday in Rampur Jail. They suggested her to file a fresh mercy petition. Initially, Shabnam was hesitant in moving the plea for mercy and had refused. But the lawyers convinced her to move the appeal to the UP Governor urging her to consider it by virtue of being a woman herself, said the sources.

    ALSO READ | Death row convict Shabnam’s son appeals to President Kovind for clemency

    Rampur Jail Superintendent PD Salonia confirmed that Shabnam’s lawyers had handed over a fresh mercy petition to be sent to the Governor. In fact, Article 161 of the Constitution empowers the Governors of States to grant pardon convicts facing death row.

    Shabnam, a native of Amroha district in western UP, had hacked his family members to death in connivance with her lover Salim, a labourer, in 2008. A postgraduate herself, Shabnam was two-months pregnant at that time. She moved to eliminate seven members of her family, including her mother, father, even a 10-month-old nephew, as they were opposed to her relationship with Salim.

    She was tried and awarded death by the sessions court of Amroha in 2010 against which she went to High Court which upheld the sentence. Then she moved the Supreme Court, but in vain. Later, Shabnam approached the President with a mercy appeal which was also rejected.

    Shabnam could be the first woman to be hanged in Independent India. However, no death warrant has yet been issued and the execution date is yet to be fixed.

    Shabnam is likely to be executed at the single female hanging house built in Mathura jail being renovated for the final act.

    Pawan Jallad of Meerut, who had executed the convicts of Nirbhaya’s gang rape and murder case, is likely to execute Shabnam’s death sentence.

  • Death row convict Shabnam’s son appeals to President Kovind for clemency

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Taj, now 12 and on verge of adolescence, was born in jail by Shabnam, who now faces gallows after being convicted for hacking seven members of her own family in Amroha on April 14, 2008.

    To save her mother, who could be the first woman convict to be sent to gallows since Independence, Taj has urged President Ram Nath Kovid to have mercy on her and pleaded for forgiveness on his mother’s behalf.

    Making a last-ditch attempt to save his convicted mother from being hanged, Taj has appealed to the President to review the mercy petition. Notably, the then President Pranab Mukherjee had already rejected Shabnam’s mercy petition after Supreme Court had upheld her death sentences in 2015 paving way for her hanging along with her lover Salim.

    ALSO READ | UP convict, who axed 7 kin to death, may become first woman to be hanged post Independence

    Shabnam was two months pregnant when she had executed the gruesome crime and axed seven of her family members in connivance with Salim as the family was opposed to her relationship with him.

    As per the sources, Taj was born in Moradabad Jail on December 13, 2008. Later, Shabnam’s friend Usman Saifi adopted him on July 30, 2015, when he was only six.

    The local sources claimed that the Usman and his wife live in Bulandshahr and the couple has grown Taj like their own son. Taj is studying in Class VI and calls the couple ‘Chote’ Mummy and Papa.

    Usman, while talking to media persons in Bulandshahr, claimed the despite knowing about the conviction of his mother and also the crime she had committed, Taj decided to appeal to the President seeking mercy for his mother.

    Shabnam is lodged in Rampur jail and Usman had taken Taj to meet her on January 21, this year. During the meeting, as shared by Usman, Shabnam asked Taj to study hard to be a good man and forget about his mother. Usman said that during the meeting, Taj was quiet most of the time. However, in return, he asked a number of questions about his mother.

    Usman said he had promised Shabnam that he would take Taj one last time before her death sentence was executed in Mathura jail.

  • UP convict, who axed 7 kin to death, may become first woman to be hanged post Independence

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: In a first in the history of independent India, a woman, convicted for axing seven members of her family to death, will be hanged at Mathura jail. 

    The date of execution, however, is yet to be fixed as no death warrant has been issued so far.

    Shabnam, a native of Amroha district in western UP, was convicted for murdering seven members of her family in connivance with her paramour Salim. She was tried and awarded death by all the courts. Even Supreme Court upheld her punishment and the President of India rejected her mercy petition. 

    Shabnam will be hanged at the single female hanging house built in Mathura jail.

    Preparations are already on for the final act. Pawan Jallad of Meerut, who had executed the convicts of Nirbhaya’s gang rape and brutal murder case, has reportedly made several visits to the hanging house in Mathura jail and suggested some modifications.

    On April 14, 2008, Shabnam, the daughter of Shaukat Ali, a teacher from Bawankheda village under Hasanpur police station areas of Amroha district, had brutally murdered seven of her family members including her father, mother, and even a 10-month old nephew. She along with her paramour Salim first served the entire family food laced with sedatives and when everyone fell unconscious, she axed them to death.

    Shabnam, a postgraduate in geography and English, fell for Salim, an illiterate labourer. Her family was dead against her relationship with Salim and their objection culminated in the massacre of seven of them.

    Both Shabnam and Salim were arrested by the district police. Salim admitted to his role in the massacre. Later, Salim led the police to recover the axe used in the criminal act. 

    As the authorities proceed with the process of hanging, Shabnam will have the distinction of being the first female prisoner to be hanged after Independence in the country.

    The first female hanging house was built in Mathura jail almost 150 years ago, but no woman has been executed there since Independence. As per the sources, a woman from Lucknow called Ramshri was sentenced to death earlier on April 6, 1998.

    But her death sentence was commuted into life imprisonment at the last moment after she gave birth to a child inside the jail.

    Mathura jail superintendent Shailendra Kumar Maitreya said that the date of hanging was not fixed yet, but preparations had already started for the procedure. Shabnam would be hanged as soon as the death warrant was issued, he said.

    Maitreya confirmed that the execution would be done by Pawan Jallad who had repaired the latch in the hanging house during one of his visits. Other modifications as per the requirement of the executioner, were also been carried out. The hanging rope was being brought from the Buxar district of Bihar, he added.