For the first time in Independent India, a woman, who was convicted for killing seven members of her family, will be hanged at Mathura jail.
On April 14, 2008, Shabnam Ali, from Bawankheda village, Amroha district, had ruthlessly murdered seven of her family members including her mother, father, two brothers, sister-in-law, cousin and 10-month-old nephew, by serving them sedatives and then slitting their throats with an axe.
Shabnam fell for Salim, and her family was against her relationship with the latter. Their objection ended in the massacre of seven of them.
The first female hanging house was built in Mathura jail almost 150 years ago, but no woman has been hung there since India got Independence. Reports revealed that a woman from Lucknow was sentenced to death earlier on April 6, 1998. But, her death sentence was revoked after she gave birth to a child in jail.
Preparations for the hanging are already on. Pawan Jallad of Meerut, who had executed the convicts of Nirbhaya’s gang rape, has reportedly visited Mathura jail and suggested some modifications in the hanging house. The date of execution is not fixed yet.