Former SC Judge Justice Kurian Joseph to lead negotiations for release of Nimisha Priya

The ‘Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council’ has been trying to get a pardon for her from from capital punishment by paying blood money

New Delhi: Former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph will lead the negotiations with the family of a Yemeni national for the release of Nimisha Priya, a Keralite nurse who is on death row in Yemen.

Nimisha Priya was a nurse in Yemen when she was convicted in 2020 for the murder of Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi

Mahdi died in July 2017 allegedly of overdose after she injected him with sedatives to get her passport that was in his possession.

According to Priya, Mahdi had also forged documents to show that she was married to him. She  also said that Mahdi abused and tortured her.

Though she had appealed against the death penalty, it was rejected. Priya is unlikely to move the Supreme Court of Yemen as she is convinced that she won’t be spared….

Her only hope to escape the death sentence is if the victim’s family accepts blood money  in accordance with Yemeni laws.

The ‘Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council’ has been trying to get a pardon for her from from capital punishment by paying blood money

The Delhi High Court had also rejected a plea by the action council to direct the central government to negotiate her release..

However, the Centre has said that the authorities will take all proactive steps to institute an appeal before the next appellate forum and that the embassy shall extend all cooperation and facilitate the travel of the petitioners to Yemen. Blood money refers to the compensation paid by an offender or his kin to the family of the victim.