Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh), March 3 : Shabnam, awaiting death sentence for killing seven members of her family, has been shifted to the Bareilly jail from the Rampur prison, after her photos with some fellow inmates surfaced on social media platforms recently.
Two guards of the Rampur jail have also been placed under suspension after jail authorities found that they had clicked the photos with their phones and later circulated them.
Jail administration officials said that the pictures were most likely taken on January 26 this year inside the jail premises. “It is a breach of security and violation of the jail manual,” an official said.
Another inmate of the same jail — who was also seen in photos — has also been shifted to the Bareilly prison.
The death row convict, Shabnam, was brought to the Rampur district jail in 2019.
The order to transfer them was given by Rampur District Magistrate Aunjaneya Kumar on Monday and the two were shifted to Bareilly on Tuesday.
Rampur jail superintendent P.D. Salonia said, “Rampur district administration had issued the orders to shift both the convicts to Bareilly district jail. An inquiry revealed that a male prison guard and a woman guard deputed in the jail had taken the photos of the convicts. A report in the matter was sent to the divisional prison Moradabad which ordered suspension of the two guards.”
Confirming the development, Bareilly jail superintendent P.Singh said, “Shabnam and another convict were shifted from Rampur to Bareilly district jail for security reasons.”
Shabnam Ali and her lover Saleem were convicted in 2010 for killing seven persons in the Babankhedi village in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha.
In April 2008, seven members of Shabnam’s family — her mother, father, two brothers, sister-in-law, cousin and a 10-month-old nephew — were found murdered. They were given sedatives-mixed milk and, when they fell unconscious, their throats were slit.
Shabnam’s family was against her relationship with Saleem.
Shabnam has recently filed a fresh mercy petition before Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and President Ram Nath Kovind.
While an official death warrant is yet to be issued, preparations are on to hang her in Mathura, which is the only jail in the country with gallows for women.
Shabnam, now 38, might become the first woman to be hanged in Independent India.(IANS)
