New Delhi: “Papa mujhe bacha lo, mera time khatam ho raha hai (Time is running out, please save me dad),” Shahzadi Khan told her 68-year-old father Shabbir Khan in the last phone call from prison on the night of February 14. The very next morning, she was executed by officials in the United Arab Emirates.
Shahzadi, 30, was a caregiver from Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district who was sentenced to death last year in UAE over charges of murder of a four-month-old infant. She was the youngest of the three daughters and four sons of Shabbir Khan and his wife Nazra Begum.
The phone call lasted for about 10 minutes during which she could only manage to speak to her father and mother. “Hum samjhaate rahe ki beta himmat rakho, kuch nahi hoga, lekin wo roti rahi (We kept telling her to stay calm and be brave, nothing will happen, but she kept crying),” says Khan. Tears rolled down his eyes as he recalled the last conversation with his beloved daughter who he claims was executed on false charges.
Shahzadi Khan was the caregiver of this four-month-old child who died. Later, the blame was put on her. Photo: Special arrangement
“Usko fasaya gaya hai (She was falsely implicated),” he says.
Shahzadi had suffered severe burn injuries on her face when she was merely 8 years old. Her father said that she loved cooking and had mastered making roti in a perfect circle shape at a very young age. “Usko kaam karne ka bahut shauk tha, roti banane ka bahut shauk tha, bachpan me hi gol roti banana seekh gayi thi (She was very keen on working, she wanted to learn to make roti; at a very young age she learnt how to make circular roti),” he recalls.
Then, one unfortunate day, this incident happened. While she was making roti on a chulha (earthen stove), she caught fire. The family spent nearly 2 lakhs on her treatment and surgery. “Bachpan me bahut sundar thi meri bitiya lekin fir ye sab ho gaya (She was very beautiful in her childhood but then this happened),” says Khan.
Shahzadi studied only up to sixth grade. “She was a social worker. She used to help the poor in our locality and hence people also used to give her donations so that she can further help many more needy people and their families,” says a local in her village, Banda, who wished to remain anonymous.
What transpired with Shahzadi in the UAE?
Shahzadi’s brother Shamsher Khan, 38, alleged that a person named Uzair, also known as Panna Chaudhary, manipulated and sent her abroad and he is the one who got her framed falsely in this case. A resident of Agra, Uzair got in touch with Shahzadi through social media after seeing her work in collaboration with an NGO.
Shamsher claimed that Uzair lured her with the promise of a job at his uncle Faiz and aunt Nazia’s house in Abu Dhabi. He also assured her that she can get her burn injuries treated there. In December 2021, she flew down to their residence on a three-month visa but got the same extended for two years.
Meanwhile, Uzair’s aunt Nazia, who had employed Shahzadi, gave birth to a boy named Omar in August 2022. The child died at four months when she was still working as his caregiver.
Shamsher claimed that the child died due to wrong vaccination and Nazia did not allow the hospital to conduct a postmortem.
The parents of the deceased child did not point fingers at Shahzadi initially, but a few months later, they accused her of killing their baby and forced her to confess to the crime on camera, claims Shamsher. “Her confession was forcefully recorded, circulated and later submitted to cops in February 2023,” he added.
Soon after the complaint was filed with the police, she was booked for killing the infant and was imprisoned in Abu Dhabi’s Al Wathba prison. In July 2023, the Court of First Instance sentenced Shahzadi to death penalty for the homicide of the infant. An appeal was filed against the decision in September 2023, but the appellate court dismissed the appeal and upheld the death penalty in February 2024.
The courts relied primarily on the video recording and testimony from the deceased infant’s family members.
Following the appeal’s dismissal, Shahzadi’s father emailed the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi requesting the commencement of clemency proceedings as per the law of that jurisdiction. He also wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in Delhi, requesting assistance in filing a mercy petition in Abu Dhabi through the Indian Embassy.
As per the details of the writ petition, the PMO responded with a reply concerning an unrelated case from Hyderabad, which compelled the family to file a fresh mercy petition application.
Shabbir Khan, father of Shahzadi Khan. Photo: Sumit Singh & Syed Abubakr
In July 2024, UP’s Banda police registered an FIR against Uzair, Faiz, Nazia and Faiz’s mother Anjum Begum on the court’s order over Shabbir Khan’s complaint. In the complaint, Khan alleged that Uzair and others sent Shahzadi on forced labour and accused them of human trafficking.
Shocker at Delhi high court
Following the last call with Shahzadi, Shabbir Khan approached the Delhi high court on February 24 with a writ petition seeking information about Shahzadi’s well-being. “We had no choice but to approach the high court as no authorities offered us any assistance. We have been tirelessly reaching out to local, state, and central authorities for help but nothing worked out,” says Khan.
On March 3, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed the high court that Shahzadi has been executed on February 15. Shabbir says he was “extremely shocked” to learn about the execution since he had spoken to her over phone a night before.
“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,” he claimed.
The Hindu published a response by the MEA in the case without naming anyone. In an article dated March 6, 2025, the newspaper stated, “In response to The Hindu, official sources said the Indian Embassy had reached out to Khan and tried “all options within the legal framework of the UAE” to get a mercy petition for Khan. This did not succeed as her employer had refused to support such a plea.”
Ali Md Maaz, the lawyer who represented Shahzadi’s family in the high court, however, alleged that MEA had lied and that it didn’t inform the family about the execution. It was only when the ministry informed the court that they came to know about it, he says.
“What MEA said in court was shocking for the judges, the family and myself. The court said that it’s highly unfortunate,” he said, adding, “We expected foreign minister S. Jaishankar to do something for us. We were constantly writing letters and mailing the ministry but nothing happened.”
Maaz termed it a “massive failure of the MEA” and claimed that a woman lawyer, provided by the Indian embassy in UAE to fight Shahzadi’s case, was actually persuading her to confess the crime.
“MEA works for big people, not for ordinary people like us. We are treated like cockroaches. If MEA had informed us well in advance about the case, we would have hired our own lawyer (to represent Shahzadi in UAE),” Maaz further said.
The family eventually hired a lawyer on their own at the stage of appeal, who fought the case pro bono for Shahzadi.
Ali Md Maaz, lawyer who represented Shahzadi’s family in the Delhi High Court. Photo: Sumit Singh & Syed Abubakr
“For the sake of argument, MEA says that they sent a text to us on the evening of February 28 regarding her execution but we can’t authenticate it. We don’t know about its veracity. Now, even if we accept that the MEA sent that text, how do we arrange flight tickets to Abu Dhabi in such a short span of time?,” asks Maaz. “Family’s train ticket from Banda to Delhi was done by me. They don’t have any money. They are poor.”
Indians on death row in Arab countries
Shahzadi’s case is not an isolated one, although this incident has brought back the spotlight on many such Indians who are on death row in foreign countries. As per a recent government data, at least 54 Indians were on death row with the highest number reported from the UAE (29) and Saudi Arabia (12). Over 10,000 Indians are reportedly lodged in 86 different jails across the world.
Two other Indian nationals hailing from Kerala namely Muhammed Rinash Arangilottu and Muraleedharan Perumthatta Valappil were also executed by the UAE on February 15. Both were facing death sentences for the murder of an Emirati national and an Indian national respectively.
Minister of State for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh informed the Rajya Sabha on February 13 that at least 29 Indians were facing death sentences in the UAE, which also accounts for the highest number of Indians on death row in a foreign land.
The total number of Indian citizens awarded death sentences by foreign courts was 54. The minister said that 12 Indians are currently facing the gallows in Saudi Arabia, three in Kuwait, one in Qatar and one in Yemen. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia housed the highest number of Indian prisoners with the tally standing at 2,633, followed by the UAE with 2,518 Indian prisoners.
Former Indian Ambassador to Qatar KP Fabian said that much more can be done and should be done in this regard.
“All Indian missions abroad must give special assistance to our citizens who are facing legal cases. The question is not about people on death row, but whether our embassies in the Arab countries care enough. Many Indians abroad do not even have a 24×7 access to embassies,” he said, adding that the trial of Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya, who is on death row in Yemen in a murder case, was held in Arabic. “The Indian Embassy didn’t arrange an interpreter for her,” he claimed.
These cases also reflect upon the harsh realities faced by Indian migrant workers abroad and the application of sharia law in the Arab countries. Kabir Taneja, Deputy director and fellow at Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation, explains why cases like these are on a surge. “We have seen many instances where Indians have moved to these countries where withholding of passports has become a norm. Many Indians routinely complain that their passport is taken away by their employer and in many cases, payment of wages is also delayed,” he says.
Many Indians complain of being forced to work in extreme conditions. All these factors possibly push them over the edge, driving them to take drastic steps in some cases. However, in many other cases, it is simply the lack of proper legal remedies being provided to Indians.
Shahzadi Khan was buried in Abu Dhabi on March 6. Her family members could not attend her burial but “authorised representatives” of the family were present, the MEA said. For further course of action, the family said they are planning to request the MEA to provide details of the legal options that were explored to save her from being executed. “We want to see all the official exchanges that have happened between MEA and UAE authorities. We want to know what the government did for us in this case. This is for our satisfaction,” Shahzadi’s brother noted.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal didn’t respond to the allegations levelled against the ministry by Shahzadi’s family and lawyer.
Sumit Singh and Syed Abubakr are freelance journalists based in Delhi.