Nimisha Priya Case: Last Minute Negotiations Bring Big Relief to Kerala Nurse in Yemen, Execution Deferred

NEW DELHI:
It was a race against time, and after a lengthy period of multipronged negotiations, the execution of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, which was to happen on Wednesday, has been kept in abeyance.

Numerous efforts from several quarters, which included full support of the Indian government, besides agencies based in Saudi Arabia and religious intervention from the Grand Mufti, Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, who reportedly reached out to a friend in Yemen’s Shoora Council to help mediate, all led to the decision.

According to the fresh order that came out soon after negotiations ended on Tuesday, the execution of Priya, which was fixed for Wednesday, has been kept in abeyance until further orders.

The order has been signed by the Prison Execution officer and the local judge of the court in Yemen.

The Indian diplomatic officials, who were part of the negotiation that took place, said talks will continue, and the officials said the Indian government has stretched maximum for this relief.

Meanwhile, it has been reliably learned that the next part of the negotiation will centre around the blood money that will be given.

Expressing happiness was Priya’s husband, Tomy Thomas, who said, “We are all happy and we also know there are a lot more things to happen. Local person Sabu M. Jerome, who coordinated all the conciliation meetings, said he wishes to thank the Governments of Yemen, the Indian government and the top people who got involved from Saudi Arabia.”

“All other news which is being heard in the media is not true. The role played by the Indian government is huge,” said Jerome.

Priya is currently lodged in a jail in Yemen, facing the death penalty for the alleged murder of her former business partner, Talal Abdo Mehdi, in 2017.

The talks involved the local Chief Justice of the Yemeni court, a senior cleric from the influential Shoora Council, and members of Mehdi’s family.

According to a member of the village council in Palakkad, Priya’s hometown, discussions have begun with the hope that Mehdi’s family will agree to accept blood money — a provision in Islamic law that could allow her execution, scheduled for Wednesday, to be deferred or cancelled.

Kerala Governor Rajendra V. Arlekar also intervened and spoke to the officials of the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday.

A Kerala billionaire, M.A. Yusuf Ali, also expressed his willingness to chip in with whatever financial support is needed.

Efforts to intervene further gained momentum, due to Kerala’s Grand Mufti, Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, who reportedly reached out to a friend in Yemen’s Shoora Council to help mediate.

Since the announcement of the execution date, politicians across party lines in Kerala have appealed to the Union government and the President of India for urgent intervention.

The matter was also heard in the Supreme Court of India on Monday.

Nimisha Priya moved to Yemen in 2008 to support her family and initially worked as a nurse before opening her own clinic.

In 2017, following a dispute with Mehdi — her business partner — she allegedly administered sedatives to him in a bid to retrieve her confiscated passport.

The sedatives proved fatal. She was arrested while attempting to flee the country and was convicted of murder in 2018.

A death sentence was handed down in 2020 and upheld by Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023.

However, the court allowed the possibility of clemency through a blood money arrangement.

The case has sparked national and international concern, underscoring the vulnerability of Indian migrant workers in conflict-ridden regions. Priya’s mother, Prema Kumari, has played a central role in the campaign to save her daughter, even travelling to Sanaa to try and negotiate directly with the victim’s family.

She is being supported by a coalition of NRI activists and social workers operating under the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council.