India provides ‘all possible assistance’ to nurse on death row in Yemen
(MENAFN) India is providing “all possible assistance” to Nimisha Priya, a 36-year-old Indian nurse sentenced to death in Yemen for the murder of her business partner, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced on Thursday.
Following interventions from Indian officials, private citizens, and a prominent Muslim cleric from her home state of Kerala, Yemeni authorities have postponed her execution, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday.
“We have arranged legal support and appointed a lawyer to help the family,” Jaiswal said during a press briefing. He also confirmed that India has facilitated regular consular access for Priya’s relatives. India is additionally coordinating with unnamed “friendly governments” regarding the case.
Jaiswal noted that India’s recent efforts were aimed at securing more time for Priya’s family to try and reach an agreement with the victim’s relatives.
Priya was arrested in July 2017 for poisoning her Yemeni business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, with whom she had opened a clinic in 2015. She was convicted and sentenced to death in 2020, and her final appeal was rejected by Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023.
Her only remaining option is to offer ‘blood money’ – financial compensation – to Mahdi’s family in exchange for clemency. Although fundraising efforts among the Indian diaspora have collected over $40,000 for negotiations, the victim’s family has so far rejected any settlement.
“We won’t be swayed,” Mahdi’s brother, Talal Abdul Fattah Mahdi, stated on social media, according to News Laundry. “Our demand remains: retribution, nothing less.”
India’s Supreme Court on Friday granted permission for the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, a private group advocating for her release, to seek government approval to travel to Yemen for talks. Currently, Indian nationals are banned from traveling to the conflict-torn nation.
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