A final report is to be filed before the district judge in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, before the way can be paved for the country’s first hanging of a female convict, Shabnam.
The report, to be filed by the District Government Counsel on February 23, will specify whether any petitions by Shabnam are pending in any court or before any Constitutional authority.
On Sunday, Shabnam raised demand for an inquiry into the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation, in a meeting with her son and his adoptive parents. “My mother told me I must study hard,” said the boy, who was born in jail and stayed with his mother for the first seven years of his life.
On April 14, 2008, seven members of Shabnam’s family - the eldest being her schoolteacher father Shaukat Ali, and the youngest being her seven-month-old nephew - were poisoned and then hacked by an axe.
In her initial interaction with the police, Shabnam had claimed that robbers had entered the home from the terrace. It was a neighbour who had called the police after Shabnam had wailed out to him.
also read
- UP: Congress wants to implement Sharia law in the country, says Yogi Adityanath
- Not just a Jat question; how smart is BJP’s candidate selection in West UP
- BJP candidate from Moradabad seat Kunwar Sarvesh Kumar dies
- Lok Sabha polls: Intense fight as all key players have tasted success in these 8 seats in UP
- Gorakhpur MP Ravi Kishan's wife files complaint against woman who claims to be his spouse
The then chief minister Mayawati had announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for Shabnam while the local station in-charge was transferred as people’s anger at the crime mounted.
The police cracked the case in a couple of days as they found no signs of forced entry into the family’s home in the village of Bawankhedi in Amroha. The door leading to the terrace through which the attackers had allegedly entered was also found locked. There were no signs of a ladder on the outer boundary from which the entry could have been made, while the sole pipe running down the wall was too thin to have borne the weight of a human. The neighbours also said that when they entered the home, the outer iron gate was shut.
An examination of Shabnam’s call records revealed that on the day of the crime, she had made 55 calls to one Salim who had a small sawmill business. One of these was just before the murder and one after it.
Both had been in a relationship but Shabnam’s family was against it. Apart from the economic divide between the two, Shabnam held two postgraduate degrees while Salim had only passed class 5. It was apparently at a seven-month pregnant Shabnam’s behest that the murder was planned as the couple had lost all hope of gaining their families' approval.
Salim got some poison which Shabnam mixed in the tea that was served to family members post dinner. To ensure that they were dead and not just unconscious, Shabnam then asked Salim to help axe all her family members. The infant had been killed by strangulation. There were no signs of a fightback from any of the deceased.
While Shabnam’s mercy petition has been dismissed by the Supreme Court, that of Salim is still pending, and this could be an impediment to the hanging as both their files have moved together.
The hanging is to take place at Mathura jail - the only place in the state where women can be hanged. Shabnam is currently lodged in Rampur jail. However, jail authorities said that the requisite infrastructure such as the lever and scaffolding were not available.
MP Singh, the jailer of Mathura jail, said that there was no official communication on the matter. “The gallows has only been cleaned as per routine,” he said.
