BENGALURU: The family of Shehzadi Khan, the 33-year-old woman from Banda district in Uttar Pradesh who was executed on February 15 in Abu Dhabi for the death of a four-month-old child under her care, will not be going to Abu Dhabi for her final rites. Instead, they have requested the authorities in Abu Dhabi through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to conduct her last rites and share the photographs with the family.
Speaking exclusively to TNIE over the phone from Delhi, Shehzadi's elder brother Shamsher Khan said that the MEA has reached out to the family and assured that they would make arrangements for them to go to Abu Dhabi for her last rites. "But, what is the point of going there now? The MEA could have been more proactive in Shehzadi's case and alerted us to get appropriate legal arrangements for her earlier. My sister's life could have been spared. She was trafficked by Uzair from Agra, tortured by her employers in Abu Dhabi and implicated in a false case of the death of their child. We spent Rs 50,000 for filing an appeal in the court when we came to know that she is no more," grieved Shamsher, who works as a fabricator in Mumbai.
Shehzadi's father Shabbir expressed the family's anguish at the "injustice" meted out to his daughter and blamed the Abu Dhabi authorities and MEA for informing them about her execution more than 15 days later. "We came to know on Monday, March 3, at 4 pm that they had executed her on February 15 in Abu Dhabi following our plea in the Delhi High Court. We offered Fateha (prayers for the deceased) in our village last evening. Tomorrow they will bury her there. How can we go at such a short notice and what is the point now? She did not get justice from anywhere. We have requested the authorities in Abu Dhabi through the Indian embassy there to share photographs of her final rites," said Shabbir, a farmer from village Goyra Mugli in Banda district.
According to the family, Shehzadi last spoke to her parents from Abu Dhabi's Al Wathba jail, where she was lodged, between 12 and 12.30am on February 15. She was executed soon thereafter. "Hamara time khatam ho gaya, papa. Unhon ne hummey dossrey kamrey mein shift kar diya hai. Time nahi hai hamarey paas (my time is over. They (prison authorities) have shifted me to another cell. I don't have time)," sobbed Shehzadi on the phone while speaking to her parents.
"Arrey nahi beta, aisa mat bol. Allah, Allah kar, beta (don't talk like this. Pray to Allah)," cried Shabbir, while assuring his distraught daughter across the continent in a doomed lonely prison cell. Shehzadi requested her parents to withdraw the FIR against her employers (whose infant had died while in her care). "Dushmani mat lena. FIR wapas le lo. Ab hummey kuch nahi chahiye. Bus, sukoon chahiye. Ye court, kachehri ka chakkar band kar do. Aaram se rehna (don't foster enmity. Withdraw the FIR. Don't run after courts. Stay in peace. I don't want anything now other than peace)," wept Shehzadi on the phone. Her parents prayed for their daughter and apologised that they could not do anything for her. "Kitney accidents huey hamarey saath, samajh lena ek aur ho gaya (I have met with so many accidents in my life, think this was another one)," she said.
Shehzadi sought forgiveness from her parents and said that she doesn't owe anyone anything and there is no debt on her. Her emotionally traumatised parents begged for Allah's mercy for their "bahadur beti" (brave daughter) and begged her to speak to her lawyer. "That was the last call we received from Shehzadi. She was the youngest in the family of seven children -- three daughters and four sons. She had suffered 80 percent burn injuries as a child and was getting a monthly pension of Rs 1,500 from the UP government. She was a social worker and helped many people using donations she received. She was working with Roti Bank in Banda and it was during the Covid-19 pandemic that she had befriended Uzair from Agra online. He took her to Abu Dhabi in December 2021 on the pretext of getting her a good employment at his uncle Faiz and aunt Nazia’s home and treatment for her burn injuries there. Shehzadi began working as a caregiver for her employer’s newborn. The four-month-old died on December 7, 2022, after receiving routine vaccinations. Despite the hospital and police recommendation for a postmortem, Faiz and Nazia refused and signed a waiver. They later started accusing Shehzadi of murdering their child and tortured her to the extent of a forced confession of a crime she had not committed," said Shamsher. In July last year, based on Shabeer's complaint, Banda police had registered an FIR against Faiz, Nazia, Uzair and Faiz’s mother Anjum Sahana Begum on the court’s order.
Shehzadi was arrested in February 2023 in Abu Dhabi following a complaint by her employers, who blamed her for their infant's death in December 2022. She was convicted and sentenced to death on July 31, 2023. The UAE authorities officially notified the Indian embassy of her execution on February 28. It came to light during a court hearing on March 3 following a plea filed by Shabbir about his daughter's fate and legal status. The MEA informed the Delhi High Court on Monday that Shehzadi was sentenced to death in Abu Dhabi over the death of an infant and was executed on February 15. The Indian embassy was informed about the execution only on Feb 28. The MEA informed that the Indian embassy had provided legal support, including submitting mercy petitions and pardon requests to the UAE government. But the UAE's highest court - the Court of Cassation - upheld Shehzadi's death sentence.