Pardon from victim’s family only hope for Kerala nurse on death row in Yemen

Dubai: Family members of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who is on death row in war-torn Yemen, are pinning their last hopes on a final attempt to save her: A pardon from the victim’s family.

Priya, 37, was sentenced to death for the murder of her former business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, whose dismembered body was found in a water tank in 2017.

Now held in a Sana’a prison, Priya’s execution is imminent, with the militant Houthi president of the Supreme Political Council Mahdi Al Mashat approving her death sentence last week.

Under Yemen’s Sharia, the only way to prevent the execution is through a pardon from the victim’s family.

For months, Nimisha’s family and supporters have been working tirelessly to raise diyah (blood money) for Mahdi’s family, hoping for a pardon. As time runs out, their only hope now lies in the victim’s family’s decision.

The public prosecutor’s office will soon approach Mahdi’s family again to seek their stance on the execution. If they choose to forgive, the sentence will be stopped immediately, according to Samuel Jerome, a Yemen-based social worker with power of attorney for Nimisha’s mother, according to BBC.

Negotiations have been complicated, as Nimisha’s family cannot contact Mahdi’s family directly, requiring intermediaries.

Subhash Chandran, an Indian lawyer representing her family, confirmed that $40,000 ((approximately Rs3.4 million) had been raised for Mahdi’s family, but delays in the second payment have hindered negotiations. “We need the Indian government’s help to facilitate further discussions with the victim’s family,” Chandran said.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs is closely monitoring the situation and providing all possible support to the family. “We are extending all possible help in the matter and will continue to follow the developments,” said spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

Nimisha’s family remains anxious but hopeful. “Nimisha has no knowledge of what is happening beyond the gates of prison,” said her husband Tony Thomas, who spoke to her hours before the approval of the death sentence. “She only wants to know if our daughter is okay,” he said. Nimisha’s mother, Prema Kumari, is in Sana’a and has met her daughter twice in prison.

During their emotional first reunion, Nimisha urged her mother to stay strong. “She said God would save her,” Prema Kumari told BBC.

With the clock ticking, the family’s hopes rest on a compassionate decision from Mahdi’s family and the final diplomatic push by India.

Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official said Iran will do whatever it can in the case of Priya,

Priya, hailing from Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, has been found guilty of murdering a Yemeni citizen in July 2017.

The nurse is currently lodged in a jail in Sana’a, the Yemeni capital city that is under the control of Iran-backed Houthis.

“We will take up the issue. She seems to have been charged with manslaughter. We will do whatever we can in the case on humanitarian grounds,” the Iranian official told a group of journalists in Delhi.

According to reports, Priya was handed capital punishment by a trial court in 2020 while Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council upheld the verdict in November 2023.