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'Grand Mufti of India' intervenes to halt execution of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya in Yemen: Report
On death row in Yemen, Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya has reportedly found some hope due to an intervention by a Muslim leader, known as ‘Grand Mufti of India’.
Nimisha Priya, the Kerala nurse facing execution in Yemen on July 16, may just be saved from the jaws of death. Sunni Muslim leader Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar, known as the ‘Grand Mufti of India’, has reportedly intervened in Nimisha Priya's case, facilitating discussions in Yemen that could potentially stop or pause her execution.
Nimisha Priya, a resident of Kerala's Palakkad district, is on death row in Yemen for the alleged murder of Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national she partnered with to open a clinic.
The Sunni Muslim leader is making last-minute efforts to pause the Kerala nurse's execution with assistance from a Sufi scholar in Yemen, reported news agency PTI.
Representatives of Sufi leader Sheikh Habib Umar bin Hafiz are scheduled to meet those representing Talal Abdo Mahdi's family in Yemen today for negotiations.
Musliyar, 94, is officially known as Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad and holds the title of Grand Mufti of India, and it is thanks to him holding talks with religious authorities in Yemen, that the talks with the murder victim's family can be initiated.
The discussions will centre around blood money, an acceptable provision under Yemen’s Sharia law. It was earlier reported that Nimisha Priya's family offered ₹8.6 crore to the murder victim's family seeking pardon in the case for the nurse.
Musliyar has also requested that the execution date be deferred from July 16, which the Yemeni administration will likely consider today.
The discussions will take place in Dhamar, the murder victim's hometown and his family will be represented by a member who is also the Chief Justice of the Hodeidah State Court and a member of the Yemeni Shura Council, PTI further reported.
"The fact that he is a follower of Sheikh Habib Umar's Sufi order and the son of another prominent Sufi leader offers great hope. Along with persuading the family, he is also expected to meet the Attorney General to initiate urgent efforts to postpone the execution scheduled for tomorrow," Kanthapuram's office was quoted as saying.
Nimisha Priya moved to Yemen with her family in 2011, and partnered with Talal Abdo Mahdi to open up a clinic to support her family, after her husband and daughter left for India in 2014 due to financial constraints.
She alleges that Mahdi physically abused and threatened her and confiscated her passport.
Nimisha wanted to leave Yemen for India for which she needed her passport. In 2017, in an attempt to obtain it, Nimisha tried to sedate Mahdi, but the dose proved fatal and he died. The Kerala nurse was sentenced to death in the case in 2020 and is scheduled to be executed on July 16.
On Monday, the Indian government told the Supreme Court during a hearing that there was "nothing much" it could do to save Nimisha, even as its best possible efforts had been made to stop her execution.
"There's a point till which government of India can go. We have reached that. Yemen is not like any other part of the world. We didn't want to complicate situation by going public, we are trying at private level," the government's counsel told the top court.
Nimisha is currently locked up in a prison controlled by the Houthi administration in Yemen's capital Sana’a.
