Kozhikode: Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar intervened for the release of Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya, who was sentenced to death in Yemen. Kanthapuram took the move in connection with a religious cleric in Yemen and spoke with the brother of murdered Yemeni citizen Talal Abdu Mehdi.
The Nimisha Piya Release Support Committee was provided with an opportunity to continue discussions with Talal's family members through Yemeni Sunni scholar Saeed Umar Hafeez.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India will consider a plea on Monday seeking a direction to the Centre to use diplomatic channels to secure the release of the 38-year-old Indian nurse. When her death sentence is to be carried out in Yemen on July 16, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta is going to hear the plea.
The Supreme Court decided to consider the matter urgently on July 10 after advocate Subhash Chandran requested that diplomatic channels be tried as soon as possible. The advocate submitted that the option of providing compensation to the family of the deceased, as per Sharia law, should also be checked.
According to the lawyer, the deceased's family might pardon Nimishapriya if she pays the compensation. The bench has directed the lawyer to provide a copy of the petition filed by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council to the Attorney General.
The incident related to the case took place in July 2017. The case alleges that Nimisha Priya, a native of Thekkinchira in Kollangod, Palakkad, and her friend killed Abdu Mahdi and hid his body in a water tank above their house. Nimisha Priya was arrested by the police in August.
Nimisha, who was caught while trying to escape, was sentenced to death by a Yemeni court in 2018 after a trial. A final appeal to overturn the death sentence was rejected in 2023. Yemeni President Rashad Al-Alimi gave permission for the execution, too.
The only way to save her was to pay compensation to Talal's family. Her mother, Premakumari, had gone to Yemen to meet Talal's family in person and apologize. Discussions were held with Talal's family and the tribal leaders but to no avail.