Latest news with #SaveNimishaPriyaActionCouncil
India.com
18-07-2025
- Politics
- India.com
Nimisha Priya execution: Supreme Court tells govt to decide on travel request for blood money talks to Yemen
Nimisha Priya execution: Supreme Court tells govt to decide on travel request for blood money talks to Yemen The Supreme Court on Friday asked the central government to respond to a request asking for permission to travel to Yemen to help stop the hanging of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya. A group called the 'Save Nimisha Priya Action Council' had filed a petition requesting the court to tell the Ministry of External Affairs to use diplomatic efforts to save Nimisha from being executed. Senior lawyer R. Basant, who spoke for the group, said that although Nimisha's hanging, which was originally planned for July 16, has been put on hold for now and they still need the government's permission to go to Yemen. The purpose of the visit is to try and get forgiveness from the family of Talal Abdo Mahdi, the man who was allegedly killed by Nimisha in 2017. What Save Nimisha Priya Action Council told the Supreme Court? Senior lawyer R. Basant told the Supreme Court that Yemen is not a country where people can freely travel because there is a ban unless the Indian government gives special permission to travel. He asked the court to allow 2–3 people from the petitioner group and a representative of a Kerala Islamic cleric to go to Yemen. However, the bench led by Justice Vikram Nath said it would not pass any order to the government. Instead, it told the group to directly ask the central government for travel permission. The bench said in its order, 'Petitioner wishes to make some representation to the government, which they are free to move. And once that representation is made, the government would consider it on its own merits.' Basant also requested that someone from the government join them to help talk to the victim's family. He said they hoped to offer 'blood money' (called diya ), a form of compensation under Islamic law that is sometimes used to avoid the death penalty. But Attorney General R. Venkataramani, the top legal officer of the central government, said he could not make any such promise. He added, 'We don't want anything to go wrong. Our goal is to bring the woman back safely.' Meanwhile, Abdelfattah Mehdi, brother of the deceased, has asserted that there can be no pardon for the crime, reiterating that Nimisha Priya has to be executed. The court will hear the matter again on August 14. Nimisha Priya's execution: MEA's response The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the Indian government is doing everything it can to help in the case of Nimisha Priya. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the matter is very sensitive, and India is also working with some friendly countries to offer full support. Speaking at a media briefing in New Delhi, Jaiswal explained that the government has provided legal help, appointed a lawyer, and arranged regular consular visits for Nimisha's family. He added that they are in constant contact with both the local authorities in Yemen and the family members to try and resolve the issue. Nimisha Priya's mother, 57-year-old Prema Kumari, has been working hard to save her daughter from the death penalty. She even travelled to Yemen's capital, Sanaa, to try and reach an agreement with the victim's family by offering blood money, which is sometimes accepted in such cases under Islamic law. Her efforts have been supported by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, a group of NRI social workers working in Yemen.
Yemen Online
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yemen Online
1 Day Left For Execution, Top Court To Hear Plea To Save Kerala Nurse Today
Nimisha Priya, who has been sentenced to death in Yemen for the murder of a Yemeni national, Talal Abdo Mehd and has been in prison for the last 3 years, is tentatively set to be executed on July 16. The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday a plea seeking directions to the Centre to use diplomatic channels to save Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya from execution. Indian national Nimisha Priya, who has been sentenced to death in Yemen for the murder of a Yemeni national, Talal Abdo Mehd and has been in prison for the last three years, is tentatively set to be executed on July 16. As per the causelist published on the website of the supreme court, a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta will take up the plea filed by "Save Nimisha Priya Action Council" for hearing on July 14. The plea, referring to Sharia law, stated that the death penalty could be negotiated with the payment of 'diya (blood money)' to the victim's family. On Thursday, a 'Partial Court Working Days Bench' of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi directed listing of the matter on July 14 after it was mentioned for urgent hearing by senior advocate Ragenth Basant. The Justice Dhulia-led Bench directed that a copy of the petition be served to the Attorney General of India, the highest law officer of the Centre. Considering the nature and urgency of the matter, the top court asked the Union government to inform it about the steps taken in the case on the date fixed. Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kollengode in Kerala's Palakkad district, had moved to Yemen in 2008 to support her daily-wage labourer parents. She worked in several hospitals and eventually decided to open her own clinic. In 2017, a dispute arose between her and her Yemeni business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, after she reportedly opposed his alleged attempts to misappropriate funds. According to her family, Nimisha allegedly injected Mahdi with sedatives to retrieve her confiscated passport. Tragically, an overdose led to his death. She was arrested while attempting to flee the country and was convicted of murder in 2018. In 2020, a trial court in Sanaa sentenced her to death, and Yemen's Supreme Judicial Council upheld the verdict in November 2023, though it left open the option of blood money. The mother of Priya, Prema Kumari (57), has been tirelessly campaigning to secure a waiver of the death penalty. She has also travelled to Sanaa to negotiate the payment of blood money to the victim's family. Her efforts have been supported by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, a group of NRI social workers based in Yemen.
Egypt Independent
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
An Indian family's fight to save this mother from execution in war-torn Yemen
CNN — Relatives of an Indian nurse on death row in war-torn Yemen are racing against time to commute her death sentence, in a case that has gripped India's media. Nimisha Priya was sentenced to death for the murder of her former business partner, a Yemeni national, whose body was discovered in a water tank in 2017. Her execution was initially scheduled for Wednesday, but Indian government sources said on Tuesday she had been given a last minute reprieve. She was given the death penalty by a court in capital Sanaa in 2020 and her family has been fighting for her release since, complicated by the lack of formal ties between New Delhi and the Huthis, who have controlled the city since the country's civil war broke out in 2014. India's media has devoted significant coverage to the case and human rights groups have called on the Huthis not to carry it out. Amnesty International on Monday urged the Huthis to 'establish a moratorium on all executions and commute (Priya's) and all existing death sentences as first steps.' It added: 'The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.' Priya's mother Prema Kumari, a domestic laborer from Kerala, who sold her home to fund her daughter's legal fees, has been in Yemen for more than one year to facilitate negotiations for her release. She last saw Priya on June 18, she told CNN. 'She looked tense,' Kumar said through tears. In accordance with Yemen's Islamic laws, Priya could be given clemency if the victim's family pardon her and accept her family's donation of 'diyah', often dubbed blood money, according to Samuel Joseph, a social worker assisting her family in the case. 'I am optimistic,' said Joseph, an Indian who has lived in Yemen since 1999. 'I'm spiriting the efforts here, and by god's grace, we got people who are helping. The government of India is directly involved and there's nothing more I can say at this point of time,' he told CNN. The Indian government sources said Tuesday the government has 'made concerted efforts in recent days to seek more time for the family of Ms. Nimishapriya to reach a mutually agreeable solution with the other party.' 'Despite the sensitivities involved, Indian officials have been in regular touch with the local jail authorities and the prosecutor's office, leading to securing this postponement.' Priya allegedly injected her business partner with a fatal overdose of sedatives, Joseph said. Her family maintain she was acting in self-defense and that her business partner was abusive and kept her passport from her after the country's civil war broke out. Her trial was held in Arabic and she was not provided with a translator, Joseph said. A group of activists and lawyers founded the Save Nimisha Priya Action Council in 2020 to raise money for Priya's release and negotiate with the victim's family. 'Negotiations have been a challenge,' said Rafeek Ravuthar, an activist and member of the council. 'The reality is that there is no Indian embassy, there is no mission in this country.' Rafeeq said about five million rupees (nearly $58,000) has been raised so far. In recent days, politicians from her home state of Kerala have requested India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and help secure Priya's release. 'Considering the fact this is a case deserving sympathy, I appeal to the Hon'ble Prime Minister to take up the matter,' Kerala's chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote in a letter to Modi. In February, Kirti Vardhan Singh, India's Minister of State for External Affairs told the upper house of parliament that the government 'accords the highest priority for the welfare of Indians abroad and provides all possible support to those who fall in distress including in the instant case.' He added: 'Government of India is providing all possible assistance in the case. The matter regarding any consideration towards the release of Ms. Nimisha Priya is between the family of the deceased and Ms. Nimisha Priya's family.' CNN has contacted India's foreign ministry for comment. View of Sanaa skyline, Yemen Jeremy Woodhouse/Move to Yemen Priya first arrived in Yemen in 2008, joining the ranks of more than two million people from Kerala who have sought better livelihoods across the Middle East. She found work as a nurse in a local hospital, nurturing hopes of establishing her own clinic and building a more secure future for her young daughter and husband, according to campaigners from the Save Nimisha Priya Council. Yemeni regulations, however, required foreign nationals to partner with a local to open a business. With the support of her husband, Priya borrowed from family and friends and in 2014 opened a clinic in Sanaa. 'We lived a normal happy married life,' her husband Tomy Thomas told CNN. 'My wife was very loving, hardworking and faithful in all that she did.' But her aspirations were soon overshadowed by the political conflict and turmoil that has beset Yemen for decades. That same year, Huthi rebels seized the capital, ousting the internationally recognized Saudi-backed government. By 2015, the unrest had escalated into a devastating civil war, leaving the country fractured and unstable. For foreign nationals, the deteriorating security situation made Yemen an increasingly perilous place to live and work. Many chose to evacuate, but Priya decided to remain. Those supporting her family say that she stayed on, determined to salvage the life and business she had worked hard to build. India does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with the Huthis, nor does it have an operational embassy in Yemen. All consular and diplomatic affairs related to the country are instead handled through the Indian Embassy in Djibouti, across the Red Sea. CNN has contacted the Indian embassy in Djibouti. For those working to save Priya, that meant navigating complex communication channels and facing additional hurdles in seeking help, legal aid, or protection while stranded in a nation still wracked by conflict and instability. Yemen was among the top five countries in 2024 with the highest number of executions, according to Amnesty International. Amnesty said it confirmed the Huthis carried out at least one execution in areas they control in 2024 but added that it was possible more took place. Priya's mother, Kumari, said she was 'grateful for everyone's support,' adding she is happy has been able to see Priya over the course of this year. Priya's husband and daughter remain in Kerala, hopeful for her release. 'My wife is very good, she is very loving,' Thomas said. 'That is the sole reason I am with her, supporting her and will do so till the end.'
Scroll.in
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Execution of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya postponed by Yemen
The Yemeni authorities on Tuesday postponed the execution of Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya. The execution was earlier scheduled for July 16. Priya, from Kerala's Palakkad, was imprisoned in Yemen for the alleged murder of Yemeni citizen Talal Abdo Mehdi in July 2017. Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, the grand mufti of India, shared a photo of the Yemeni public prosecutor's letter confirming that the execution had been postponed. No fresh date of execution has been set, according to the letter. This came a day after the Union government told the Indian Supreme Court that it cannot do much more to prevent the execution of Priya. The court was hearing a plea by the Save Nimisha Priya Action Council, a citizen-led initiative advocating for her release, which sought directions for the Union government to take diplomatic efforts to stop the execution. The petitioners had argued that there is a provision in the Islamic Sharia law for release if the victim's family accepts 'blood money', or the amount paid in compensation to the family of a person who has been killed. The Indian government had made efforts to seek more time for Priya's family to reach a mutually-agreeable solution with the other side, The Indian Express quoted unidentified officials as saying on Tuesday. Attorney General R Venkataramani had told the court on Monday: 'Looking at the sensitivity of not diplomatically money is a private a point till which the government of India can go. We have reached that.' Yemen has been locked in a civil war since 2014. New Delhi does not recognise the Houthi regime that controls the part of Yemen where Priya is jailed. 'Yemen is not like any other part of the world,' he had told the court. 'We didn't want to complicate the situation by going public, we are trying at a private level...' The petitioner had told the court that they were willing to pay higher blood money to halt the execution, Bar and Bench reported. The court will hear the matter next on Friday. The case In 2020, Priya was sentenced to death by a trial court in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. Her appeal was rejected by the Yemeni Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023. However, it kept open the option of paying 'blood money'. On December 30, news reports claimed that Rashad al-Alimi, who is the chairperson of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, had approved the death sentence handed to Priya. India's Ministry of External Affairs had said on December 31 that it was aware of the situation and was extending help to Priya and her family in the matter. Priya's mother has been negotiating with Mehdi's family to secure a waiver of the death sentence. Priya went to Yemen in 2008 to help her parents, who were daily wage labourers. She worked at hospitals in Yemen before starting her clinic in 2015. Differences came up between Priya and Mehdi, her business partner, after she questioned him about the alleged embezzlement of funds, her family has claimed. Priya's mother alleged in a plea that Mehdi tortured her daughter under the influence of drugs for years and held her at gunpoint several times. The plea also alleged that Mehdi confiscated Priya's passport so that she could not leave the country.
NDTV
14-07-2025
- NDTV
2 Days Left For Execution, Top Court To Hear Plea To Save Kerala Nurse Today
New Delhi: The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday a plea seeking directions to the Centre to use diplomatic channels to save Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya from execution. Indian national Nimisha Priya, who has been sentenced to death in Yemen for the murder of a Yemeni national, Talal Abdo Mehd and has been in prison for the last three years, is tentatively set to be executed on July 16. As per the causelist published on the website of the supreme court, a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta will take up the plea filed by "Save Nimisha Priya Action Council" for hearing on July 14. The plea, referring to Sharia law, stated that the death penalty could be negotiated with the payment of 'diya (blood money)' to the victim's family. On Thursday, a 'Partial Court Working Days Bench' of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi directed listing of the matter on July 14 after it was mentioned for urgent hearing by senior advocate Ragenth Basant. The Justice Dhulia-led Bench directed that a copy of the petition be served to the Attorney General of India, the highest law officer of the Centre. Considering the nature and urgency of the matter, the top court asked the Union government to inform it about the steps taken in the case on the date fixed. Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kollengode in Kerala's Palakkad district, had moved to Yemen in 2008 to support her daily-wage labourer parents. She worked in several hospitals and eventually decided to open her own clinic. In 2017, a dispute arose between her and her Yemeni business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, after she reportedly opposed his alleged attempts to misappropriate funds. According to her family, Nimisha allegedly injected Mahdi with sedatives to retrieve her confiscated passport. Tragically, an overdose led to his death. She was arrested while attempting to flee the country and was convicted of murder in 2018. In 2020, a trial court in Sanaa sentenced her to death, and Yemen's Supreme Judicial Council upheld the verdict in November 2023, though it left open the option of blood money. The mother of Priya, Prema Kumari (57), has been tirelessly campaigning to secure a waiver of the death penalty. She has also travelled to Sanaa to negotiate the payment of blood money to the victim's family. Her efforts have been supported by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, a group of NRI social workers based in Yemen.
