Shahjadi Sabbeer Khan

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: INDIAN WOMAN EXECUTED FOR INFANT’S MURDER

March 4, 2025:

Shahjadi Sabbeer Khan (30), a caregiver from Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district who was sentenced to death last year in the United Arab Emirates for the alleged murder of a four-month-old infant, was executed on February 15, 2025, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed the Delhi High Court on March 3.
Upon learning of her execution on March 3, her family in Banda said they would approach the Central government for help in bringing her body back home. The MEA informed the Delhi High Court about her execution during a hearing on the family’s petition seeking information about Shahjadi’s well-being.
They were “extremely shocked” to learn about the execution since they had spoken to Shahjadi over phone earlier that day (February 15), the family said.
Her father Sabbeer Khan had repeatedly appealed to the central and state authorities for help, claiming she was falsely implicated in the murder case. The family maintained that she was wrongfully accused of murdering the infant child of a couple she was working for in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital city, since 2021.
“The government told the Delhi High Court that she was executed on February 15, but they never informed us despite our requests for help for months. We will approach the External Affairs Ministry to bring the body of my sister back to India,” said Shahjadi’s brother Shamsher Khan.
She had been imprisoned in Abu Dhabi’s Al Wathba prison since 2022 following the child’s death. “We had no choice but to approach the Delhi High Court, as no authorities came forward to assist us. We have been tirelessly reaching out to local, state, and central authorities for help. We all failed to save her,” said another family member.
Their efforts intensified after Shahjadi informed the family in September last year that her appeal had been rejected and that she could be executed anytime.
Shahjadi, who was unmarried, was the youngest of the three daughters of Shabbir and his wife Nazra Begum. She studied up to the sixth grade and had suffered severe burn injuries on her face and other parts of body when she was six, it is learnt.
Shahjadi’s family blamed one Uzair, also known as Panna Chaudhary, a native of Agra, for falsely framing her in the case. She came in contact with Uzair through social media while working with an NGO, they said.
According to the family, Uzair lured Shahjadi with the promise of a well-paying job at his uncle Faiz and aunt Nazia’s home in Abu Dhabi, assuring her that she could also receive treatment for her burn injuries there.
The family said Nazia gave birth to a baby who died four months old in 2022 when Shahjadi was working as the child’s caretaker.
A few months later, Faiz and Nazia accused Shahjadi of killing their child and forced her to confess, they alleged.
In July last year, on Sabbeer Khan’s complaint, the Banda police had registered an FIR against Faiz, Nazia, Uzair, and Faiz’s mother Anjum Sahana Begum on the court’s order. The complaint listed several allegations, including accusation that Uzair and others sent Shahjadi on forced labour. The investigating officer of the case has filed a closure report in the matter, a Banda district police official said.