Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kerala, faces imminent execution in Yemen for the 2017 death of her business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi. Her final hope lies in the intervention of Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, an influential Sunni Muslim cleric, who is working to persuade the victim’s family to accept “blood money”—the only legal path to halt the death penalty under Yemeni law.
Priya’s lawyer, Subhash Chandran, stated that Musliyar’s outreach has sparked renewed dialogue with Yemeni religious leaders and the victim’s relatives.
“We are trying our best so that the family accepts the blood money and the Kerala nurse is spared from death row,” he told The New Indian Express.
The Case That Gripped Two Nations
Priya moved to Yemen in 2008 to support her family and later opened a clinic after working in several hospitals. Under local laws, she partnered with a Yemeni citizen, Talal Abdo Mahdi. However, their professional relationship reportedly turned abusive, with Priya alleging sustained harassment.
In 2017, Mahdi allegedly confiscated her passport. In an attempt to retrieve it and flee the country, Priya administered a sedative—intended to render him unconscious. Mahdi died, and Priya was arrested while trying to escape. She was sentenced to death and has remained on death row at the Central Prison in Sanaa.
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Religious Outreach and Legal Hurdles
Kanthapuram Musliyar, also known as Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad and the Grand Mufti of India, has taken the lead in brokering reconciliation. He has reached out personally to the victim’s family and is working with religious and local leaders in Yemen to seek a pardon. His efforts come amid stalled diplomatic options and limited Indian government influence in war-torn Yemen.
Musliyar’s mediation, described as the “final push,” is being seen as a last-minute but hopeful intervention, with the execution date reportedly set for July 16.
Supreme Court Intervention and India’s Role
On July 14, the Supreme Court of India heard an urgent petition filed by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, a group dedicated to her cause. During the proceedings, the Indian government said it was making “every possible effort,” though Attorney General R Venkataramani noted the severe constraints due to Yemen’s ongoing conflict. Priya, meanwhile, has reportedly continued her work as a medical professional within the prison, treating fellow inmates—a quiet testament to her identity as a caregiver despite her dire circumstances.
