Supreme Court stays execution of woman

new delhi: the only woman awaiting execution in the death row of tihar jail has escaped the gallows for the time being with the supreme court’s intervention. it has stayed the execution of shakila and babu ram, her accomplice for setting ablaze a two-year-old child after using the sleeping baby for "black magic" in sultanpuri 15 years ago. after hearing the accused’s counsel, m qamaruddin, that the prosecution case did not "inspire" but "expires confidence", a bench comprising justice d p mohapatra and justice p v reddi directed the delhi government and jail authorities to stay the hanging till further orders.the court also issued notices to the authorities concerned and admitted the appeal for hearing. besides shakila and babu ram, four others were sentenced to death by the trial court. later, the high court, describing the offence as "rarest of the rare", ordered death sentence for shakila and babu ram for the ghastly act. shakila sacrificed the child belonging to her neighbour as she was told by a priest that her childless daughter would conceive only after killing a female child.