Key Points

Priya has been in a Yemeni prison for the last three years. According to the negotiator S.J. Bhaskaran, after the news of the execution came on Tuesday, he will leave for Yemen. Priya’s husband, Tomy Thomas, and their daughter are expecting that they will be able to prevail upon the family of Mehdi to resolve the case by paying the blood money. So far, Mehdi’s family has not responded positively to the offer of the blood money.

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, Mehdi, reportedly took a tragic turn.

The family claim Priya injected Mehdi with sedatives to retrieve her confiscated passport. But unfortunately, an overdose led to his death. Priya 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 Priya from the death penalty. The mother of Priya, Prema Kumari (57), has been tirelessly campaigning to secure a waiver of the death penalty. She has also travelled to Sanaa to negotiate the payment of 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.

- IANS