NEW DELHI: With barely six days left for the execution of nurse Nimisha Priya in Yemen, a petition on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to direct the Centre to make last-ditch diplomatic efforts to save her from the gallows.
The petition filed by ‘Save Nimisha Priya Action Council’ was mentioned by senior advocate Regenth Basant before a Bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Joymalya Bagchi which agreed to hear it on Friday.
According to Sharia law, a person can be released if the relatives of the victim agree to accept “blood money”, Basant told the Bench, urging it to ask the Centre to explore such an option to secure her release from Yemen through diplomatic channels.
The 37-year-old nurse from Kerala is scheduled to be executed on July 16. The trial court convicted her of killing a Yemeni national, a decision that was upheld by the country’s Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023.
Priya was sentenced to death for murdering Talal Abdo Mahdi in 2017 by allegedly injecting him with sedatives to get her passport that the deceased had kept in his possession.
Earlier, MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We are aware of the sentencing of Nimisha Priya in Yemen. We understand that the family of Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help.”