India vows all possible support in Nimisha Priya case, engages friendly governments

New Delhi: India on Thursday reiterated its commitment to offer full assistance in the case of Nimisha Priya, a Kerala nurse sentenced to death in Yemen for the murder of a Yemeni national, asserting that it is also in touch with some friendly governments to render all possible support.

“This is a very sensitive matter and the Government of India has been offering all possible assistance in the case. We have provided legal assistance and also appointed a lawyer to assist the family. We have also arranged regular consular visits for the family, and we are in touch with both local authorities and the family members to resolve this issue,” said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi.

“This included concerted efforts in the last few days to seek more time for her family to reach a mutually agreeable solution with the other party. The local authorities in Yemen have postponed carrying out her sentence that was scheduled for July 16. We will continue to closely follow the matter and render all possible assistance in the case. We are also in touch with some friendly governments in this regard,” he added.

In a significant development in the case, the scheduled execution of the Indian nurse has been temporarily halted.

Nimisha Priya was to be executed on Wednesday, but following the lengthy period of multipronged negotiations, her execution has been kept in abeyance.

Analysts believe that it is the family of the deceased that can pardon Priya. However, with a difference of opinion surfacing in the family, the religious people involved in the negotiations, besides officials, are trying their best to resolve the issue.

It has been learnt that the next part of the negotiation will centre around the ‘blood money’ that will be given. For the unversed, ‘blood money’ is monetary compensation to the family of the person killed in exchange for forgiveness. It is an accepted practice under Sharia law.

A Kerala billionaire has also expressed his willingness to chip in with whatever financial support is needed.

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.

She moved to Yemen in 2008 to support her family and initially worked as a nurse before opening her 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. However, the sedatives proved fatal.

Priya 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.

–IANS