Indian nurse Nimisha Priya’s family offers Rs 86000000 as…, only hope is pardon by…

Only three days is remaining for the scheduled execution of Nimisha Priya an Indian nurse facing the death penalty in Yemen for the alleged murder of a Yemeni national. She will be executed on July 16. However, a social worker involved in talks with Yemeni officials and the victim Talal Abdo Mahdi’s family has conveyed that her family has offered $1 million (approximately ₹8.6 crore) as ‘blood money’ to the victim’s relatives in a last-ditch effort to save her life.

What is the case?

Priya, hailing from Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, was found guilty of murdering a Yemeni man also her business partner in July 2017. In 2020, a Yemeni court handed her the death sentence, and the country’s Supreme Judicial Council dismissed her appeal in November 2023. The 38-year-old nurse is presently lodged in a jail in Sana’a, the Yemeni capital city that is under the control of Iran-backed Houthis.

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to use diplomatic channels to save the Indian nurse. A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi listed the matter for hearing on July 14 after advocate Subhash Chandran KR said diplomatic channels need to be explored at the earliest.

What the law says?

Yemen’s legal system, based on Sharia law, allows the death penalty to be waived if the victim’s family accepts compensation, known as diyah or blood money and chooses to forgive the offender. Such pardons can legally be granted up until the final moments before the execution.

 

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