The Ministry of External Affairs on Monday told the Delhi High Court that an Indian woman who was sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates for the alleged murder of a four-month-old child was executed on February 15, Bar and Bench reported.

The 33-year-old woman, identified as Shahzadi Khan, was kept at the Al Wathba jail in Abu Dhabi and sentenced to death in July 2023 for the alleged murder, PTI reported.

On Monday, Justice Sachin Datta was hearing a petition by Shahzadi Khan’s father, Shabbir Khan. The father, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district, had sought details from the external affairs ministry about the status of the legal proceedings against his daughter in the UAE.

Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing the ministry, informed the court that Shahzadi Khan was executed and that her last rites would take place on Wednesday.

Sharma said that the Union government had tried its best to assist Shahzadi Khan, including by sending her mercy petitions and pardon requests to the United Arab Emirates government, PTI reported.

Justice Datta said that the development in the case was “unfortunate” and disposed of the petition.

In his petition, Shabbir Khan said that his daughter had moved to Abu Dhabi for work in December 2021, PTI reported. Her employer gave birth to a son in August 2022, following which she was assigned as the infant’s caregiver, he added.

The petition claimed that the infant received routine vaccinations on December 7, 2022, and died that evening. The infant’s parents, however, did not allow a post-mortem and signed an agreement to waive further investigation into the death, it added.

However, Shahzadi Khan was arrested in 2023.

The Court of First Instance in Abu Dhabi that year found her guilty for the murder of the infant and sentenced her to death, Bar and Bench reported. The sentence was upheld by the appellate court.

The parents of the infant had accused Shahzadi Khan of murder based on a video in which she allegedly confessed to the crime, according to Bar and Bench.

Her father alleged in his petition that the counsel provided by the Indian embassy in the case had pressured Shahzadi Khan to confess to the murder.

Shabbir Khan also said that he had reached out to the external affairs ministry and the prime minister’s office seeking their assistance in filing a mercy petition in Abu Dhabi. However, he claimed that he had not received help, Bar and Bench reported.

He had approached the ministry and moved the High Court seeking details about the well-being of his daughter after she told him during a telephone call on February 14 that she would get executed.