Won’t pardon Nimisha Priya, says brother of victim at centre of execution case

Under Islamic law, a convict can escape punishment if the victim’s family agrees to diyat, a form of financial compensation.

Hours after the Yemeni authorities deferred the execution of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya until a new date was announced, the brother of Talal Abdo Mahdi, the Yemeni man she murdered in 2017, on Wednesday said that his family does not wish anything less than the execution of the convict.

Indian-origin nurse Nimisha Priya was earlier supposed to be executed in Yemen on July 16. (HT Photo)

While the deferral of the capital punishment was welcomed by the family of Priya and the Indian authorities, the stated position of Mahdi’s family has cast a cloud over the efforts to seek the release of the Kerala nurse. Under the Islamic law, implemented in Yemen, a convict can escape punishment if the victim’s family agrees to diyat, a form of financial compensation, in exchange for seeking qisas, or retribution.

In the Facebook post published on Wednesday, originally written in Arabic, Abdelfattah Mahdi made it clear that despite the pressures being imposed on the family to reconcile from all quarters, their demand remains the same — retribution, or execution of Priya.

“What is achieved and heard today from mediation and attempts for peace is nothing new or surprising. Throughout our years, there have been hidden pursuits and efforts to mediate. This is normal and expected...But the pressure has not changed anything in us. Our demand is retribution, nothing else,” Mahdi said in the post verified by HT.

He said that while the deferral of the execution was “unexpected”, those who made efforts to stop it must know that Mahdi’s family refuses all attempts to reconcile.

“Delay won’t flex, pressure won’t move us and blood cannot be bought. And the truth is not forgotten. Retribution will come no matter how long the road takes. It is just a matter of time and with God’s help (it will happen),” he added.

Yemeni authorities on Tuesday postponed Priya’s execution of Priya, bringing much relief to her family and others who now hope that the united efforts can avert her execution altogether. The execution was originally scheduled for July 16.

Priya, who hails from Kollengode in Palakkad district of Kerala, had boarded the flight to Yemen as a 19-year-old in 2008 in search of a nursing job. In 2020, she was found guilty by a local court for murdering Talal Abdo Mahdi in July 2017 by injecting him with sedatives. The Kerala nurse, who had started a clinic in alleged partnership with Talal, had sedated him in order to retrieve her passport from him that he had illegally kept.

The statement from Mahdi family comes amid efforts made by India’s Grand Mufti and influential Kerala Sunni cleric Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musaliyar to contact prominent Yemeni Islamic scholars and urge them to initiate talks with Mahdi’s family to reach a possible monetary settlement.

Musaliyar had specifically contacted Yemeni Sufi-Sunni scholar Sheikh Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, who wields influence over a large portion of the population in that country including Mahdi’s family, in a bid to reach out to the victim’s kin.

Adv KR Subhash Chandran, a Delhi-based member of the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, an organisation fighting to save her life from the gallows, said while he was aware of the Facebook post, he was still hopeful of the talks with the victim’s family reaching a solution.

“All members of the family must agree to a blood money settlement for Priya to be freed from execution. If even one member disagrees, it will fall through. I understand that the family has suffered a big loss which cannot be quantified and we extend our heartfelt apologies. We are hopeful that the talks will happen. The Council is completely aligned with Kanthapuram Musaliyar’s office and their efforts to mediate,” Chandran told local media.