KOCHI: Hopes have brightened for the release of Nimisha Priya, the Malayali nurse who is on a death row in a jail in Yemen for murdering Yemeni national Talal Mahdi in 2017. The negotiation team led by former Supreme Court Justice Kurian Joseph has managed to find some leads to initiate talks with Talal’s family for a pardon by paying blood money. Sources said the negotiation team managed to reach out to a few officials in Yemen who could hold the talks with the family.
“The discussions are in the initial stages. We expect to convince the family. Things are looking positive,” said the source. It is expected that a decision is most likely to be taken before the end of Ramzan (May 1). The Ministry of External Affairs has already extended support to the negotiating team but also clarified that it will not be directly involved.
Palakkad native Nimisha, who was a nurse in Yemen, was convicted in 2020 for the murder of Talal Abdo Mahdi. In the court, she said that she had to take the extreme step after Mahdi forged documents to show that she was married to him. She said he also brutally tortured her physically. Though Nimisha appealed against the death sentence awarded to her by a lower court, all appeals were rejected leaving her with the only option to seek pardon from Talal’s family by paying blood money.