The execution of Nimisha Priya has been postponed with hectic parleys underway in Yemen in a last-ditch effort to save the nurse from Kerala who was sentenced to death by local authorities for killing a man who was harassing her. Ms Priya’s execution was scheduled for tomorrow, but it has now emerged that the victim’s family has been convinced to postpone it at least for tomorrow.
The Indian government had asserted yesterday that it had done everything within its limits to stop the execution, suggesting ‘blood money’, is likely the last option that Ms Priya can avail to evade death.
The government, which has been providing all possible assistance in the matter, had made concerted efforts in recent days to seek more time for the family of Nimisha Priya to reach a mutually agreeable solution with the victim’s family, said sources.
Despite the sensitivities involved, Indian officials had been in regular touch with the local jail authorities and the prosecutor’s office, leading to securing this postponement, they added.
The postponement does not mean Ms Priya would be released or sent back to India. She is currently in Sanaa, the Houthi-held capital of Yemen.
India does not have any diplomatic relations with the Houthi rebels.
Nimisha Priya had taken up the role of a nurse in Yemen in 2008 while looking for a lucrative job to support her parents back in Kerala. She initially worked in hospitals but later opened her own clinic. And to comply with the local law, she took on board a local business partner named Talal Abdol Mehdi, 37.
Mehdi, however, started harassing her. He stole her money and snatched her passport, practically stopping her from leaving the country. With no other option to escape him, Ms Priya injected with a sedative in 2017, planning to recover her passport after he loses consciousness.
Mehdi, however, died and Ms Priya was arrested while trying to flee Yemen.
