DNA Exclusive: How serious can be the consequences of delayed justice-an analysis

Justice delayed is justice denied--all of us have heard this but in DNA show on Monday our report will make you question if justice delayed can be considered true justice after all. Even after the delay of years, if the court gives the right verdict still many lives are affected due to the delay. Today we will tell you about a mother who has been sentenced to death and post-independence in India, Shabnam is likely to be the first woman to be hanged. Meanwhile, her innocent son is demanding the right of his mother.

The case belongs to the Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh where a girl named Shabnam had killed all 7 people of her family because she wanted to marry her boyfriend and her family was against the marriage. Shabnam felt that if she killed her family she will be able to get married and the property will also be in her name.

But Shabnam was arrested with her boyfriend after the crime and both of them were sentenced to death by the Amroha court in 2010. Since then 13 years have passed and Shabnam gave birth to a son in jail in December 2008. The child wants the law of the country should spare the life of Shabnam. The child has also made an appeal to President Ram Nath Kovind to commute the death sentence of his mother. Now the question is whether Shabnam will be hanged or not? A mother always saves children from every difficulty but in this case, will the son save his mother?

In April 2008, seven people of Amroha were killed. A daughter killed seven people including her parents, brother-in-law, sister and an 11- month-old. The girl's name was Shabnam and she did this work together with her lover Salim. Shabnam was a postgraduate girl whereas Salim was a class 8 pass.

The family did not agree to this relationship but Shabnam wanted to marry Salim as well as wanted the property for her safe future. So, Shabnam gave the family sleeping pills in tea. When all of them became unconscious, the duo killed everyone together. First Shabnam told the police that the dacoits have killed her family and they escaped because she was sleeping on the roof while the rest of the family below. But the case was opened within five days and both Shabnam and Salim were arrested.

Shabnam is currently locked in Rampur Jail which has applied a petition from Amroha's District Court to issue a death warrant for the hanging of Shabnam. In this case, there is a hearing in Amroha's district court on Tuesday. 

In December 2008, this child was born in jail. According to the law, the child should be kept with the mother for 6 years. After spending 6 years and 7 months, the second chapter of this child's life started. After 6 years the child could not stay in jail. But neither her uncle and aunt left nor Salim's family wanted to adopt the child. At this juncture, husband-wife Usman and Vandana came forward for the custody of the child. Usman was two years junior to Shabnam in college.

Meanwhile, this house in Bawankhedi village of Amroha is once again bustling. Now Shabnam's uncle aunt is living here. After 13 years, the memory of this incident has also become a little blurred. Perhaps this is why family and neighbours are now demanding that she be not hanged.

Mathura is the only jail in Uttar Pradesh, where there is a hanging area for women and was built in 1870 in Mathura jail. But no woman has been hanged since 1947. According to sources, the area is being repaired. The noose has been ordered and other Shabnam lawyers are looking for legal options to defend. Shabnam has decided to donate the property. 

This news is a great example of how serious the consequences are if justice is delayed. Shabnam and Salim were sentenced to death by the district court of Amroha in 2010 after two years in the 2008 murder case. After that, the case went to the Allahabad High Court and then to the Supreme Court but the execution of the sentence remained intact. In this case, Shabnam's mercy petition has been dismissed by the President in 2016. But there are still many legal options left.

India is among those countries in the world where the conviction rate is the lowest. The Indian Penal Code means that the punishment for crimes under the IPC is only 40 per cent. Surprisingly, the Conviction Rate is continuously decreasing in India. In 2016, the conviction rate in cases of serious crime was 46 per cent, which has now come down by about 5 to 6 per cent. According to the National Crime Records Bureau or NCRB, in 2016, 5,96,000 people were convicted for serious crimes, while 6,78,000 people were acquitted.

The biggest reason for this is that our justice system works at a much slower pace than the whole world. There are currently more than three and a half crore cases pending in Indian courts. As of November 2019, the number of pending cases in the Supreme Court is around 54,,000, about 44,75000 in different high courts and 3.14 crore cases in lower courts.

At the time of the crime, Shabnam was a 25-year-old daughter but did not fulfil the duty of being a daughter. She didn't tremble while killing her mother but her son is praying to the President for his mother.