No Woman Has Ever Been Executed Despite Death Penalty Verdicts

Although courts in Bangladesh have delivered death penalty verdicts in numerous cases involving women, no female convict has ever been executed in the country.

Since independence, courts have sentenced over a hundred women to death. However, there is no record of any woman being executed so far.

In most cases, female death row convicts have not even needed to submit mercy petitions to the President. In many instances, sentences have been reduced to life imprisonment upon appeal to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, after which the convicts serve their terms in condemned cells.

The question remains: why are death sentences for women not carried out? Legal procedures, judicial delays, and humanitarian considerations have all emerged as key explanations.

It has been learned that Bangladesh’s only women’s prison, the Kashimpur Central Women’s Jail in Gazipur, does not have a gallows. The prison, established in 2007, was built without one because there has never been any precedent of executing a woman in the country.

Authorities say there are currently 94 female death row inmates in prisons across the country, 54 of whom are held in Kashimpur. However, none of their cases have reached the stage of execution due to legal complexities.

According to Assistant Inspector General of Prisons Md. Jannatul Farhad, after a lower court verdict, convicts have the right to appeal. In many cases, higher courts reduce sentences or even acquit the accused. Therefore, death sentences cannot be carried out without confirmation by the High Court Division (death reference). In most cases involving women, death sentences are commuted to life imprisonment during appeal, and some are even acquitted.

Deputy Jailor Tania Farzana of Kashimpur Women’s Central Jail said that although there is a separate building for condemned female prisoners, no gallows has been installed because there has never been an execution of a woman in Bangladesh. She questioned, “Where no woman has ever been executed, why would a gallows be built?”

Officials from Sylhet and Chattogram central prisons also stated that there are no separate condemned cells for women. While such facilities exist for male prisoners, they have not been constructed for women. According to prison regulations, executions cannot be carried out if a woman is pregnant. Additionally, executions may be postponed due to age or serious illness.

Prison sources say that among the current female death row inmates are Ayesha Siddika Minni, Kamrunnahar Moni and Umm-e-Sultana Popy,  Rita Akter and Ruma alias Reshma , and Oishi Rahman , among others. Most of their cases are currently pending in higher courts.

Legal experts say that Section 497 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides leniency in granting bail to female accused. Moreover, cases involving women often take years to conclude in higher courts. International human rights pressure against capital punishment is also stronger in cases involving women.

According to Dhaka University law professor Dr. Arif Jamil, there is no legal barrier to executing death sentences for women. However, due to lengthy judicial processes, sentence reductions on appeal, social realities, and special considerations, most cases never reach the stage of execution.

Meanwhile, there is evidence suggesting that one woman may have been executed in Bangladesh’s history, although detailed records are unavailable. Prominent lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir stated in an August 2024 interview that only one woman has ever had a death sentence executed in Bangladesh’s history, and he has requested detailed information from the prison authorities, which he has not yet received.

A condemned cell is a special section of a prison where only death row inmates are held. In Bangladesh, it does not always refer to a single dedicated room. According to prison authorities, inmates sentenced to death and awaiting appeal or execution are kept separately from general prisoners for security reasons. This segregated housing is referred to as a condemned cell.

In India, there is no confirmed record of a woman being executed after independence. However, the case of Shabnam, a woman from Uttar Pradesh sentenced to death for killing seven members of her family, drew significant attention.

In 2008, she and her lover murdered her parents, two brothers, sister-in-law, and a nine-month-old child. In 2015, the Supreme Court of India upheld her death sentence and rejected her mercy petition. Preparations were even made for her execution at Mathura Jail, but due to legal complications and procedural delays, the sentence has not yet been carried out.

As a result, no woman has been executed in India since independence, making the Shabnam case one of the most widely discussed death penalty cases involving a woman.

Female executions in Iran

According to Roya Boroumand, executive director of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, Iranian law generally allows two options in murder cases: the victim’s family may grant forgiveness, or the death penalty is carried out.

Based on her data, at least 233 women were documented as having received death sentences in Iran between 2000 and 2022. Of these, 106 were convicted of murder, 96 for drug-related offences, and a smaller number for offences related to extramarital relations.