New Delhi:

Nimisha Priya, the Indian nurse sentenced to death for the murder of a Yemeni national, still has legal options to save her life if the victim’s family pardons her and accepts blood money, said Subhas Chandran, her family’s lawyer. Yemen President Rashad al-Alimi on Monday approved Priya’s death sentence, and she can be executed in a month’s time. She was found guilty of killing Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national, in 2017. 

Speaking to NDTV, Mr Chandran noted that in Yemen, Sharia law prevails, under which if the victim’s family is ready to pardon the accused after taking diya money (blood money), the death panel can be reversed. 

“We spoke to some legal experts there (Yemen) and understood that after the Supreme Judicial Council’s order, getting an assent from the President is the formal procedure. Still, if the family is ready to accept the diya money and pardon her, her life will be saved,” he said. 

Mr Chandran, however, noted that due to the prevailing political situation in Yemen, negotiations with the Mahdi’s family are being hindered. Yemen has been facing a civil since 2014 when Houthi insurgents took over the capital city Sanaa, which was followed by a rapid Houthi takeover of the government.

“We are facing a challenge in this due to the prevailing political situation in Yemen. We are unable to travel to Yemen, and we need the government’s support for that. If the Union government helps us with negations, the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council is ready to pay whatever amount the family asks as diya money,” he added. 

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)said that India was aware of the sentencing of Nimisha Priya in Yemen and extended all support to the family.

“We understand that the family of Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help in the matter,” MEA Spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said in a statement.

Nimisha Priya Case

Priya was found guilty of killing Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national, in 2017. A year later, she was sentenced to death by a trial court in Yemen. Since then, her family has been fighting for her release. They approached the Yemini Supreme Court against the trial court’s order, but their appeal was rejected in 2023. Now, with the country’s President also rejecting Priya’s appeal, her release depended on securing forgiveness from the victim’s family and their tribal leaders.

A native of Palakkad, Priya is a trained nurse who worked in private hospitals in Yemen for a few years. Her husband and minor daughter returned to India in 2014 because of financial reasons. The same year, Yemen was gripped by civil war, and they could not go back, as the country stopped issuing new visas.

Later in 2015, Priya sought Mahdi’s support to set up her clinic in Sana’a, as under Yemen’s law, only nationals are allowed to set up clinics and business firms.

Per her appeal plea in Yemani Supreme Court, in 2015, Mahdi accompanied Priya to Kerala when she came for a month-long holiday. During the visit, he stole her wedding photograph, which he later manipulated to claim that he was married to her.

Upon their return, when Priya started the clinic, Mahadi started cornering all the revenue. He also manipulated the ownership documents of the clinic. When Nimisha Priya questioned him about the embezzlement, he became hostile towards her.

He also began to take money out of her monthly earnings after telling everyone that Priya was his wife and even morphed their pictures to show they were married. In her plea, Priya alleged that soon the harassment turned into physical torture and Mahdi also seized her passport.

According to her plea, Priya even approached the police in Sanaa regarding the matter, but instead of taking action against Mahdi, the police arrested her and put her in jail for six days.

In July 2017, Priya approached the warden of a jail near her clinic, where Mahdi was previously jailed under various charges.

The warden suggested that she should try to sedate him, and then convince him to give her passport. However, sedation did not affect Mahdi, who was a substance abuser. She tried sedating him again, using a stronger sedative to retrieve her passport but he died within a few minutes due to a drug overdose.

Prema Kumari, mother of Nimisha Priya, along with Samuel Jerome Bhaskaran (left) and Indian mission staff at Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. File photo
| Photo Credit:  Special Arrangement

The Government of India is extending all help for Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya, who is on death row at the Central prison in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, the Ministry for External Affairs said on Tuesday (December 31, 2024).

Also read:On a journey fraught with danger to save her daughter on death row

“We are aware of the sentencing of Ms. Nimisha Priya in Yemen. We understand that the family of Ms. Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help in the matter”, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

A native of Palakkad, Nimisha was imprisoned for the alleged murder of Talal Abdo Mehdi, a Yemeni national in July 2017. She was sentenced to death by a trial court in Sanaa in 2020 and the Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council had dismissed her appeal in November 2023 while keeping the option of paying blood money open. 

A native of Kollengode in Palakkad district, Nimisha had left for Yemen in 2008 to help her parents, who were daily-wage labourers. She worked in a few hospitals in Yemen before deciding to start her own clinic in 2015. The family said that differences cropped up with Mahdi, her local partner, after she questioned him about the alleged embezzlement of funds. She allegedly injected him with sedatives in an attempt to reclaim her passport that he had confiscated and an overdose resulted in his death.

Family still hopeful of her release

The family members and well-wishers of Nimisha Priya remain hopeful of her release despite reports that Rashad al-Alimi, President of Yemen, has given the nod for her execution.

Samuel Jerome Bhaskaran, a member of the ‘Save Nimisha Priya International Council’ who has been working in Yemen for over 24 years and co-ordinating the efforts to release her, told The Hindu from Yemen on Monday that the death penalty can be waived, if the victim’s family agreed to pardon her in exchange for blood money.

“The negotiations came to a halt following the release in the delay of the second instalment of the fee asked by the lawyer engaged on behalf of Ms. Nimisha Priya to carry out the talks with the family members and tribal leaders,” he said.

According to the council, the lawyer had demanded a total of about 40,000 dollars as pre-negotiation fee. About 20,000 dollars were transferred to him through the Indian Embassy in Yemen in July 2024. However, he had made it clear that the negotiations could continue only after receiving the remaining amount.

Subhash Chandran K. R., member of the council and Supreme Court lawyer who had represented 57-year-old Prema Kumari, mother of Nimisha Priya in in the Delhi High Court, said that the release of the second instalment was put on hold as the council had asked the lawyer to update on the progress of the negotiations and the details about how the initial funding was utilised.

Ms. Kumari had met her daughter at the central prison in Sanaa on April 24, 2024 after a long journey from Kochi. She was accompaied by Mr. Samuel Jerome Bhaskaran. She continues to remain in Yemen hoping for her release. She was able to travel to Yemen after the Delhi High Court on a plea filed by her and the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council asked the Centre to relax its 2017 notification, which barred Indian passport holders from travelling to Yemen.