With only six days left before her scheduled execution, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday to save Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kerala, who is facing the death penalty in Yemen.
The petition was submitted by the ‘Save Nimisha Priya Action Council’ and was mentioned by senior lawyer Regenth Basant. The court, led by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, agreed to hear the case on Friday.
Basant informed the court that under Sharia law in Yemen, a death sentence can be avoided if the victim’s family agrees to accept “blood money” (compensation). He requested the court to direct the Indian government to explore this option through diplomatic channels.
Nimisha Priya, 37, is set to be executed on July 16. She was convicted of murdering a Yemeni citizen, Talal Abdo Mahdi, in 2017. Reports say she injected him with sedatives in an attempt to retrieve her passport, which he had taken from her. Yemen’s highest court upheld her death sentence in November 2023.
Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it is aware of her case and is helping as much as possible. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the government understands that Nimisha’s family is trying all legal options and that support is being extended to them.
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