Can Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya facing execution in Yemen be saved?
"I am optimistic about seeing a way forward," Jerome said, adding Mehdi's family has not responded to the offer yet.Jerome praised the Indian government, saying it has done everything possible to save Nimisha Priya. He specifically mentioned the letter sent by former Minister of State for External Affairs, General VK Singh, which helped the 36-year-old to be brought to trial. "(Otherwise) she would have been executed a long, long time back."As a last hope, the activist urged the Indian government - if at all possible - to speak with the sheikhs and other influential people, who Jerome thinks could convince the victim's family to forgive Nimisha Priya and accept the money.Talking about Priya's mother, Prema Kumari, who has been in Yemen since 2024, Jerome said that she is very emotional at the moment."To be honest, she is very emotional. I didn't want to talk to her until I go there (Yemen's capital Sanaa)...She is a very fragile lady," he told India Today TV, stressing that he hasn't spoken to her in detail and don't plan to do so until she meets her in person.Nimisha Priya moved to Yemen in 2008 to look for work to support her family back in Kerala. She worked in multiple hospitals before opening her own clinic in 2015 with Mehdi, who was her local partner as mandated by the law in Yemen.Disputes soon emerged between her and Mehdi after she accused him of embezzling funds and confiscating her passport. To reclaim the document, Priya allegedly injected him with sedatives, but an overdose led to his death. She was arrested while trying to flee Yemen.advertisementA local court sentenced Priya to death in 2020. Her family's appeal in Yemen's Supreme Court, challenging the decision, was dismissed in 2023. In January this year, Mahdi al-Mashat, President of the rebel Houthis' Supreme Political Council, approved her execution.Yemen's Sharia law offers Nimisha Priya one last chance to be saved by securing forgiveness from the victim's family by paying blood money or 'diyah' to them.- EndsTrending Reel
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