A heart-wrenching incident came to light on the night of 14 April 2008 in Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh, which shook the entire state. Seven members of the same family were brutally murdered in Bawankhedi village. Initially it was considered a robbery, but when the truth came out, everyone was shocked. Because behind this massacre was not an outsider but the daughter of the house Shabnam and her lover Salim. Shaukat Ali's family was considered an educated and cultured family. Shaukat himself was a lecturer in a college and his daughter Shabnam worked as a Shikshamitra in the village primary school. The family consisted of Shaukat, his wife, two sons, a daughter-in-law, a niece and an 11-month-old grandson. On the night of 14/15 April 2008, this entire family became silent forever.

The only surviving daughter became the reason for suspicion

Only one member survived this bloody incident- Shabnam. Initially she kept calling herself innocent and blameless. She claimed that she was sleeping on the roof and thieves entered the house and killed everyone. Even Chief Minister Mayawati came to meet her. From the media to the common people, everyone considered her a grieving daughter. But the post-mortem report and investigation changed everything.

The secret was revealed by the post-mortem report

The postmortem revealed that all of them were first given a sedative mixed in milk and then killed by slitting their throats with an axe. But the question was that if all of them were given sedatives, how did Shabnam survive? The police took this point forward and proceeded with the investigation and then a shocking truth came to light—the mastermind of this massacre was Shabnam herself.

when love became a sin

Shabnam and Salim loved each other. But Shabnam's family was against this relationship. The reason was that Salim belonged to the working class. An educated and socially respected family did not approve of this relationship. To overcome this opposition, Shabnam and Salim together made a plan to eliminate the entire family. 

On the night of April 14, Shabnam put all the family members to sleep by giving them sleeping pills in milk. Then Salim was called and everyone's neck was cut one by one. Shabnam herself would hold the hair of her family, and Salim would wield the axe. When Salim reached the 11-month-old child, he backed off. Then Shabnam herself strangled the innocent child to death.

The grip of law after the truth

During the police investigation, both of them confessed to the crime. The court awarded death sentence to both of them in 2010. As soon as the sentence was announced, a new twist came—Shabnam was pregnant. She gave birth to Salim's child in the jail itself, who was named Taj Mohammad. At the age of five, that child was adopted by a social worker.

Shabnam is still in jail

Even today, 17 years later, Shabnam is still in Bareilly jail. Salim is also in jail. Their hanging has been postponed till now, although the punishment has been confirmed by the Supreme Court and the President. If she is hanged, Shabnam will be the first woman in independent India to be hanged. 

The incident is still fresh in the memories of the people of Amroha. Local residents say that schools were closed that day, people were scared in their homes and when they came to know that their daughter had done such a horrific thing, it was difficult to believe.