The recent execution of Shahzadi Khan, an Indian migrant worker in the UAE, has exposed the lack of legal aid and consular support in serious cases
Zoya Hussain
Shahzadi Khan's visa Pic credit: Special Arrangement
GHAZIABAD/BANDA, Uttar Pradesh: It’s been only a month since Shabbir Khan received the news of the execution of his youngest daughter, Shahzadi, on charges of killing the four-month-old infant she was nanny to in the United Arab Emirates. But the farmer from Matoundh village in Uttar Pradesh has risen above his grief to ensure that no other migrant from his village in a Gulf country faces a similar fate as his daughter.
Sitting in his modest two-room house—one with sturdy walls and the other a makeshift structure under a thatched roof—an emotional Shabbir holds up a photograph of Shahzadi. “She was the first woman from our village to go to the Gulf,” he said. “After what happened to her, I have decided to set up an organisation to educate our people about the risks of such jobs abroad and help them navigate these challenges.”
Shabbir is planning to set up a nonprofit on a plot he owns in Mahuva block, with a top agenda to teach Arabic to villagers aspiring for jobs in the Gulf.
“The documents that Shahzadi signed, which she was told were travel documents but were actually a confession to killing the child, were in English and Arabic—languages she did not understand,” said Shabbir.
“I advise those working in the Gulf to be cautious in order to avoid mishaps and conspiracies. Do not trust anyone blindly and do not sign any documents without verification. I had heard that there was justice in the Gulf countries, but the way my daughter was falsely implicated has changed my view,” he told The Migration Story.
Shahzadi was executed on February 15, following the murder conviction, despite the debatable circumstances of the case. While her family protested that the infant had been given a vaccination a few hours earlier that could have caused its death, her employers accused her of strangling the child, which the court in Abu Dhabi accepted. The lack of a post-mortem examination, as noted by a doctor's testimony during the trial, left significant doubts about the cause of death but Shahzadi was nevertheless given capital punishment.
The 33-year-old’s final communication with her family was a 10-minute phone call on February 14, the night before her execution. “My time is over,” she told her father. “I don't know if I'll be able to make any more calls.” It was the last time her family heard her voice.
‘WHO WILL LISTEN TO US’
Shahzadi Khan's parents pose with her picture Pic credit: Special Arrangement
Shahzadi’s case is part of a disturbing pattern of legal vulnerabilities faced by Indian workers in the Gulf. Just days after her execution, two Indian nationals from Kerala, Muhammed Rinash Arangilottu and Muraleedharan Perumthatta Valappil, were also executed in the UAE after being convicted of murder in separate cases.
According to recent reports, 29 Indians are currently on death row in the UAE, the highest number in any country where Indian citizens are currently facing capital punishment. These cases highlight the limited legal representation available to Indian migrant workers, campaigners said, especially domestic workers and labourers who often do not speak Arabic and unknowingly sign legal documents without understanding the implications. Just as Shahzadi did.
Bhima Reddy, a migrant rights activist, emphasised the importance of migrants from India equipping themselves well in their country of work. “In many of these Middle Eastern countries, documents and procedures are in the local language, Arabic,” he said. “Indians do not know the language, and they should get a proper interpreter or translator there.”
Shabbir had left no stone unturned to get his daughter out of her situation. Following her arrest on February 10, 2023, he made multiple visits to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) and calls to the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi seeking help—efforts which he said were fruitless. After Shahzadi’s last phone call and a prolonged period without updates, he approached the Delhi high court with a petition on February 24, 2024, seeking clarity and assistance from the Indian authorities. It was only during a court hearing on March 3 that the MEA called to inform him that Shahzadi had already been executed on February 14 and that her last rites were scheduled for March 5 in Abu Dhabi.
“My daughter was in prison for two-and-a-half years,” said Shabbir. “The only phone call we ever got from the Indian embassy was on March 3 to inform us that she had been hanged and that we were supposed to be there for her last rites on March 5. But how could we reach so quickly? We didn’t even have passports.”
The despondent father rued the lack of effective legal representation provided by the embassy: “The lawyer assigned by the embassy was only going through the formalities,” he alleged. “During their first interaction, she asked Shahzadi to confess, which Shahzadi refused to do. After this, she did not appear for the second hearing, leaving Shahzadi with no legal representation, as no other lawyer was provided.”
Significant help came only from Indian Supreme Court lawyer Ali Mohammad Maz and industrialist S P Singh Oberoi from Punjab, who attempted to negotiate a settlement involving blood money, which was ultimately rejected.
“The Indian embassy and government kept the information about her execution from us,” Shabbir Khan told The Migration Story.
Lamenting the lack of support and information, he added, “Shahzadi used to call us from prison. On February 14, she told us that she might not be able to make any more calls. Nobody listened to us when she was alive; who will listen now that she's gone? My daughter has suffered a lot of injustice.”
Shahzadi’s journey: From Banda to Abu Dhabi
Shahzadi was the youngest of Shabbir’s three daughters. An accident during her childhood left her with severe burns as a child, for which she underwent several surgeries funded by local contributions and a grant of ₹1,80,000 by Banda MLA Daljeet Singh. This allowed her to continue her education and later volunteer at the Agra branch of the non-profit Roti Bank.
Shabbir owns 25 bighas of agricultural land, the family's primary source of income. His four sons work as labourers in Mumbai; their earnings, combined with the family's farming income, help sustain the household. However, the financial situation remains tight. When Shahzadi moved to Abu Dhabi, she managed to send only ₹25,000 for her younger brother's wedding, a modest contribution to her family's finances.
“During the Covid-19 lockdown, when there was no work, she met a man—Uzair alias Panna Chaudhary from Agra’s Nai Mandi police station area—who promised her a lucrative job in the UAE,” said Shabbir.
Conversations between Shahzadi and Uzair soon transitioned from social media to phone calls, during which Uzair invited her to Agra to undergo plastic surgery for her facial burns. Despite the reservations of her family, Shahzadi, driven by her own determination, travelled to Agra in September 2021.
Once she was there, Uzair proposed that she move to Abu Dhabi to work for his aunt and uncle, promising that they would arrange for her plastic surgery. Shahzadi’s family said that Uzair told her that his uncle and aunt - Faiz and Nazia - will take care of everything so she can look like she used to before the accident. By December 2021, he had arranged a three-month visit visa for Shahzadi, facilitating her move to the UAE to start working at the home of Faiz and Nazia.
Shahzadi’s move abroad was seen by her family as a golden opportunity. “Going to the UAE was like a dream come true, especially considering the prospect of her facial plastic surgery,” said Shabbir. “We also gave our consent because the arrangements—visa and air ticket—were made effortlessly by Uzair, and we were able to keep in constant contact with Shahzadi.”
When Shahzadi moved to Abu Dhabi in December 2021 to work at Nazia and Faiz’s home, Nazia, a professor at Al Nahyan University, was pregnant. A few months later, she gave birth to a baby, which Shahzadi looked after till the fateful day of December 7, 2022, when the child suddenly died. The family blamed Shahzadi for the baby's death even in the face of her protests that the death was probably a reaction to a vaccination administered a few hours earlier.
The MEA has said that it did all it could in Shahzadi’s case, including sending mercy petitions to the UAE government. But given the number of Indians work in blue-collar jobs in the UAE, there is a critical need for far more robust support and protective measures, campaigners said.
SHIFTING PATTERNS
Recent estimates from the MEA put the number of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) residing in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at approximately 8.88 million. Indians constitute the largest expatriate group among the roughly 35 million migrant workers in the region. However, legal troubles and exploitation are common among migrant workers, particularly those in low-income jobs such as domestic work and construction.
Between 2019 and June 30, 2023, Indian embassies in the GCC nations collectively received 48,095 labour complaints from Indian migrant workers—averaging over one complaint per day. These complaints included non-payment of wages, denial of labour rights, and exploitative working conditions—many of which align with forced labour indicators as per the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Recent studies highlight a significant shift in migration patterns from India to the GCC countries. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have emerged as the new leading contributors of migrant workers, surpassing Kerala, which has seen a drastic drop of 90% in workers heading to the Gulf over the last decade. Economic opportunities and higher salaries in countries like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman are attracting many from these states, driven by limited local employment opportunities. “The surge in migration from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is influenced by the socio-economic conditions in these states,” stated migrant rights activist Reddy.
The demographic profile of these migrants is primarily young men aged between 20 and 40 years, though an increasing number of women are also migrating to sectors like hospitality. Their qualifications vary widely, ranging from a minimal formal education to specific vocational training.
MISSING SUPPORT SYSTEMS
The legal support available to these migrants has been inadequate, especially in handling serious legal issues in the Gulf, where Arabic is the primary language. Advocate Subhash Chand, a Delhi-based lawyer, emphasised the necessity of legal representation and interpreters. “Without proper understanding and legal aid, migrants are vulnerable to unjust legal outcomes,” he stated, stressing the importance of proper legal representation to navigate the complex legal systems in the Gulf.
Highlighting the severity of legal challenges faced by migrants, Chand reiterated that Shahzadi was compelled to sign many confessional documents, which led to her capital punishment by the court. He also criticised the lack of engagement and support from Indian missions abroad, suggesting that these institutions needed to be more responsive and better equipped to handle the cases of Indian nationals. “The first responsibility should be that of the Indian government, the MEA and the Indian missions in Gulf countries, who never raise such issues,” he pointed out.
India offers assistance for issues such as non-payment of wages and minor immigration violations but does not generally provide legal aid for criminal cases, campaigners and legal experts said. This gap in legal support is significant, especially in criminal cases where the stakes are high. The need for bilateral agreements that ensure the rights and well-being of migrants and include protocols for immediate communication with Indian missions in cases where nationals are detained is critical so that more cases like Shahzadi’s do not happen, campaigners said.
For Shabbir, these changes are important to protect precious lives.
"The system has let us down. Maybe if they had just pushed a little harder, and handled things a bit more proactively, we might have seen a different ending. It’s a grave injustice to our daughter,” he said.
Edited by Radha Rajadhyaksha
Additional reporting by Zeeshan Akhtar in Banda
Zoya Hussain is an award-winning journalist who reports on gender, health, caste, class, environment, and socio-political issues
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