Thiruvananthapuram: With the execution date of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya set for July 16 in Yemen, the Congress leadership in the state has stepped up efforts to save her life, calling for urgent diplomatic intervention at the highest levels.
On Thursday, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, appealing for immediate action.
“I am writing to earnestly appeal for your intervention in the case of Nimisha Priya, a 37-year-old Indian nurse from Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, who is facing imminent execution in Yemen,” Satheesan wrote.
He highlighted that Yemen’s legal system allows for diyat (blood money), where the victim’s family may pardon the accused in exchange for financial compensation. However, efforts to initiate such negotiations are hampered by the absence of formal diplomatic relations between India and the Houthi-led administration in Sanaa.
“In light of this humanitarian crisis, I urge your good office to take immediate steps through all available diplomatic channels to secure a stay on the execution and extend necessary legal, diplomatic, and financial support to save an Indian citizen’s life,” Satheesan stated.
On Wednesday, Mariamma Oommen Chandy — wife of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy — along with her son and MLA Chandy Oommen, met Kerala Governor Rajendra V. Arlekar, seeking his intervention. Mariamma said her late husband had actively pursued the case during its early stages and she was now continuing that effort.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on July 14 a petition seeking directions to the Centre to use diplomatic channels to prevent Nimisha’s execution.
Nimisha Priya moved to Yemen in 2008 to support her family, working in hospitals before eventually opening her own clinic. In 2017, a dispute with her Yemeni business partner, Mehdi, reportedly escalated when she injected him with sedatives in an attempt to retrieve her confiscated passport. The sedative allegedly led to Mehdi’s death.
She was arrested while attempting to flee the country and was convicted of murder in 2018. A Yemeni trial court sentenced her to death in 2020, and the verdict was upheld by Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023. However, the court left open the possibility of avoiding the execution through diyat.
The case has sparked widespread concern over the treatment of Indian nationals abroad. Nimisha’s mother, Prema Kumari (57), has been tirelessly campaigning to save her daughter. She has even travelled to Sanaa to negotiate directly with the victim’s family for a possible pardon.
Her efforts have been supported by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, a group of NRI social workers and activists based in Yemen, working to raise funds and secure diplomatic support.
With time running out, all eyes are now on the Indian government and its diplomatic machinery to act swiftly and decisively to save Nimisha Priya.
(IANS)
