Death row convict Shabnam asks son to focus on studies

SON MEETS HER IN JAIL

Death row convict Shabnam asks son to focus on studies

Maria Khan TNN

Bareilly:22.02.2021

The 12-year old son of Shabnam Ali, a death row convict who could become the first woman to be hanged in independent India, visited Rampur district jail to meet his mother on Sunday afternoon. The boy, who was accompanied by his guardian, met his mother for 45 minutes in Rampur jail, where she has been lodged for the past two years. Talking to media persons after the meeting, he said that his mother asked him to focus on studies.

He again appealed that her mother be forgiven and not be given capital punishment. “I am requesting President uncle again to forgive her,” he said. Earlier, a video had gone viral in which the boy held a placard that said, “President uncle, please forgive my mother Shabnam.” Rampur jail superintendent PD Salonia said, “After the news arrived that preparations had begun to hang Shabnam at Mathura jail, the mother-son duo desperately wanted to meet each other. The boy, who otherwise visits his mother in Rampur jail every three months, came to visit her here on Sunday afternoon. The meeting continued for around 45 minutes following which he left.” Shabnam, now 38, had been convicted of killing seven of her family members — her mother, father, two brothers, sister-inlaw, cousin and 10-month-old nephew — after they opposed her relationship with Saleem, also a resident of the Amroha village in UP that she is from.