Yemen's Supreme Court has rejected the appeal against the death sentence of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who has been serving a prison sentence since 2017 for the murder of a Yemeni national. Priya was found guilty of killing Talal Abdo Mahdi. She was sentenced to death by a trial court in Yemen Talal Abdo Mahdi in 2018 and her family has been fighting for her release since then. With Yemini Supreme Court rejecting her appeal, it's now up to the country's President to decide on the plea.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that Indian government is aware of the matter and is providing consular assistance when required.
Who is Nimisha Priya?
She is from Palakkad district in Kerala. After completing a nursing training programme, she went to Yemen and worked in a few private hospitals.
Ms Priya came in contact with Talal Abdo Mahdi in 2014, who promised to help her in starting her own clinic. A partnership was required since according to Yemeni law, partnering with a local is mandatory for starting any business.
However, the partnership soon ended because of differences between Ms Priya and Mr Mahdi. She went ahead and started her clinic with him in 2015, but according to local outlets, Mahdi started threatening Ms Priya.
Mr Mahdi even took away her passport to ensure she doesn't leave Yemen. Ms Priya filed a police complaint against Mr Mahdi due to which he was arrested in 2016. But after his release, he continued giving troubles to Ms Priya.
Then, in 2017, she injected him with sedatives in an attempt to retrieve her passport from his possession. However, he died of an overdose.
Ms Priya was found guilty of the murder in 2018 and sent to jail. She was later sentenced to death.
What her family is doing?
Nimisha Priya's family has been fighting to get her justice since 2018. Her mother moved the high court earlier this year, seeking permission to travel to Yemen in spite of a travel ban for Indian nationals and negotiate the "blood money" to save her daughter.
Blood money refers to the compensation paid by an offender or his family to the victim or their relatives.
On Thursday, the Centre's lawyer said according to a notification issued recently, the travel ban may be relaxed and Indian nationals may be allowed to travel to Yemen for specific reasons and durations.
The high court had earlier refused to direct the Centre to negotiate the payment of blood money to save the woman, but asked it to pursue the legal remedies against the conviction in Yemen.
