Nimisha Priya’s husband ‘ready to pay blood money’ for her return

Urgency of situation escalated after Yemen's President approved her death sentence earlier this month

Thiruvananthapuram: Even as hectic diplomatic efforts are continuing to save Nimisha Priya, who is in jail in Yemen and sentenced to death, her husband was hoping for relief and his wife returning home. Tomy Thomas and their daughter expect that they will be able to prevail upon the family of Talal Abdo Mahdi to resolve the case by paying the blood money.

“Numerous people are working to resolve this issue and we all are hoping that we will be able to connect with the family of Mahdi who has to pardon Nimisha. Our daughter at times connects with her mother, but she is missing a mother’s attention and love,” said Thomas who returned home years ago from Yemen and was planning to go back when the case surfaced.

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The urgency of the situation escalated after Yemen’s President Rashad al-Alimi approved Nimisha Priya’s death sentence earlier this month. Reports suggest the execution could occur within a month, leaving her family and supporters scrambling for a resolution.

Nimisha Priya, originally from Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, moved to Yemen in 2008 to support her daily wage-earning parents. After working in various hospitals, she opened her own clinic. However, in 2017, a dispute with her Yemeni business partner, Mahdi, reportedly took a tragic turn.

Family accounts claim Nimisha injected Mahdi with sedatives to retrieve her confiscated passport. Unfortunately, an overdose led to his death. Nimisha was arrested while attempting to leave the country and was convicted of murder in 2018.

In 2020, a trial court in Sanaa sentenced her to death. The verdict was upheld by Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023, but it left open the possibility of avoiding execution through the payment of blood money. The case has drawn widespread attention and raised concerns over the fate of Indian nationals abroad as the family and supporters continue their efforts to save Nimisha Priya from the death penalty.

The mother of Nimisha Priya, Prema Kumari, 57, has been tirelessly campaigning to secure a waiver of the death penalty. Earlier this year, she travelled to Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, to negotiate the payment of ‘diya (blood money)’ to the victim’s family. Her efforts have been supported by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, a group of NRI social workers based in Yemen. Prema Kumari, appearing on Malayalam television from Yemen, tearfully urged for urgent intervention.