Yemen court rejects Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya's plea against death penalty
Her mother has moved Delhi HC, seeking permission to travel to Yemen to negotiate “blood money” with Mahdi’s family to secure her release
Incarcerated since 2017 for the murder of a Yemeni national, Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse from Kerala, has received a major setback from the Supreme Court of Yemen which has rejected an appeal against her death sentence. Priya was convicted of murdering Talal Abdo Mahdi after she injected him with sedatives in a bid to retrieve her passport from his possession.
Meanwhile, following a plea from Priya’s mother to travel to Yemen, the Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Centre to decide on the request within a week. Priya's mother moved the HC earlier this year, seeking permission to travel to Yemen despite a travel ban for Indian nationals, put in place in 2017 due to the ongoing civil war in the Arab nation.
The Kerala nurse’s mother reportedly wants to travel to Yemen to negotiate “blood money” or compensation with Mahdi’s family to secure her release. Represented by lawyer Subash Chandaran KR, the petitioner had earlier pleaded with the court that the only way to save her daughter lies in direct negotiations with the victim’s family, which requires her physical presence in Yemen. However, the existing travel ban for Indian nationals has created a hurdle.
On the other hand, the Centre’s lawyer informed the high court that under a recently issued notification, the travel ban to Yemen may be relaxed, allowing Indian nationals to visit the country for specific reasons and limited durations.
“In view of the representation, let the present petition be treated as a representation. Respondent is directed to decide the representation within one week from today,” Justice Subramonium Prasad ordered.
The "Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council", a group advocating for Priya’s release, approached the high court in 2022, imploring the Centre to “facilitate diplomatic interventions as well as negotiations with the family of the victim on behalf of Nimisha Priya to save her life by paying blood money in accordance with the law of the land in a time-bound manner”.
However, the high court refused to issue an order to the Centre to negotiate the “blood money” to save Priya but asked it to pursue legal measures against her conviction.