New Delhi : A plea was filed in the Delhi High Court on Saturday seeking the Central government’s intervention in a case of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, who was awarded a death sentence by a Yemeni Court, in connection with the murder of a Yemini citizen five years ago.
The plea filed through Adv Subhash Chandran KR, by ‘Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council’, prayed for the High Court’s direction to the Centre to facilitate negotiations with the family of the victim on behalf of the nurse to save her life by paying blood money — compensation paid by an offender or his kin to the family of the victim — in accordance with the law in Yemen.
The plea further said that due to the socio-political situation in Yemen, travel to the Western Asian country is not allowed and there is no way for her family or well-wishers to visit Yemen and pay blood money to secure her release.
“It is come to know from the lawyer who represented her before the appeal court that the option for “blood money” is kept open by the appeal court. A copy of the judgment is yet to be received and the limitation for appeal before the Supreme Judicial Council is 40 days only. If the appeal before the Supreme Judicial Council is dismissed, execution may take place any time,” the plea read.
It was alleged that Nimisha has been held guilty of murder after she gave sedatives to a man named Talal Abdo Mahdi who kept her passport and “kept her like a slave” in Yemen, the plea said. It also said the deceased physically and financially abused her and locked away her passport so she could not come back to India. Nimisha and a friend then gave sedatives to the deceased, leading to his death due to overdose.
It also alleged that Mehdi had forged documents to show that he was married to her. He had sought his help to start her own clinic but he cheated on her financially and later started torturing her.
On March 7, a Yemen court had dismissed the appeal of Nimisha Priya in the murder case in which she, along with another person, is the prime accused.
Hailing from Palakkad, Nimisha, a nurse by profession, reached Yemen in 2012 with her husband.
–IANS