For the first time in the history of independent India, Shabnam Ali ,38, a woman, convicted for killing seven members of her family to death, will be hanged at Mathura jail.
The first female hanging house was built in Mathura jail almost 150 years ago, but no woman has been executed there since Independence of the country.
However, 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.
Shabnam was convicted for murdering seven members of her family in connivance with her paramour Salim. Later, she was tried and awarded death by all the courts as Supreme Court also upheld her punishment . The President of India has rejected her mercy petition.
Now she will be hanged at the only female hanging house built in Mathura jail. However, the date of execution is yet to be fixed as no death warrant has been issued so far. Meanwhile, Shabnam’s son, a minor, has filed a mercy plea with President Ram Nath Kovind.
Meanwhile, preparations are already on for hanging of Shabnam in Mathura’s jail. Pawan Jallad of Meerut, who had executed the convicts of Nirbhaya’s gang rape and brutal murder case, has visited the hanging house in Mathura jail and has suggested some modifications.
This gruesome story unfolds after Shabnam who hails from Bawankheri,a village some 20 k.m from Amroha in Moradabad division of Uttar Pradesh. She is postgraduate in Geography and English and was teaching in school when she fell in love with Salim, an class VI dropout who worked as daily wager. Her family was dead against her relationship with Salim.
However, their objection culminated in the massacre of seven of the family members.
On the intervening night of April 14 and 15, 2008, she brutally murdered seven of her family members including her father, mother, and even a 10-month old nephew. According to updates, she along with her paramour Salim first served the entire family food laced with sedatives and after everyone was unconscious she killed them to death. Soon after the matter came to limelight, both Shabnam and Salim were arrested by the district police. Later, Salim admitted to his role in the massacre. He also led the police to recover the axe used in the criminal act. Shabnam was seven weeks pregnant with her lover Salim’s child at the time of committing this crime.
The reaction to the multiple murders was so strong that people who had named their daughters as Shabnam had changed the names almost overnight.
Meanwhile, Shabnam’s uncle and aunt have expressed happiness at the court verdict.“We were not at home when the carnage took place. When we went there at around 2 a.m., there was blood all around and the bodies were cut up. The crime was unpardonable,” said her uncle, refusing to disclose his name. He further said that he would not accept the body of Shabnam after her hanging.
Report- Vikas Chandra Agrawal