What Is Blood Money And How It Could Save An Indian Woman On Death Row In Yemen?
Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging his intervention to allow an Indian woman to travel to Yemen to negotiate the release of her daughter, who has been sentenced to death there.
The woman is the mother of Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kerala who has been in a Yemeni jail since 2017 for the murder of her 'husband'.
Why Nimisha Priya's mother wants to go to Yemen?
Nimisha Priya's mother had approached the Delhi High Court seeking permission to travel to Yemen to negotiate with the victim's family by paying blood money to secure her release.
Her mother and the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council have been trying to facilitate the elderly woman's travel to Yemen, and they have expressed confidence that if she pleads with the family of her 'husband', they will agree to commute the death sentence, in exchange of blood money.
On Thursday, the Central Government informed the Delhi High Court that the Supreme Court in Yemen had dismissed the appeal of Nimisha Priya against the death sentence and that the final decision now lies with the President of Yemen.
How can blood money save Nimisha Priya?
According to Yemen law, a person convicted of murder can be pardoned by the family of the deceased by paying blood money.
Blood money is a form of financial compensation, and the amount can be decided by the victim's family.
Several attempts have been made so far to negotiate Nimisha Priya's release, but to no avail.
Who is leading efforts to save Nimisha Priya?
Former Supreme Court judge?Justice Kurian Joseph had been heading the mediation team of 'Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council to secure her release.
In 2022, Justice Joseph had met Lulu Group chairman MA Yusuff Ali, who also hails from Kerala, in an attempt to reach out to the Yemeni family.
In 2021,?Yousuf Ali?had helped to save the life of Becks Krishnan, a native of Kerala's Thrissur, who has been in jail in the UAE for nearly a decade over the death of a Sudanese boy in a reckless driving incident.?
Ali saved the life of Krishnan by paying blood money, an amount equivalent to Rs 1 crore.?
Nimisha Priya's mother has been trying to meet the Yemeni family, but she has not been able to travel to the country due to a travel ban that has been in place since 2016.
What happened to Nimisha Priya in Yemen?
Nimisha Priya, a native of Kerala's Palakkad, was married to Tomi Thomas, a man from her home state and has a daughter. The couple had been working in Yemen since 2011, and in 2014, Thomas returned to India with their daughter.
Nimisha Priya's troubles started with her attempt to open a clinic in Sanaa in 2015. Since only Yemeni nationals were allowed to set up business there, the couple took the help of an acquaintance, Talal Abdu Mahadi.?
With some forged documents showing Mahadi and Nimisha Priya as husband and wife, they could open the clinic. But after Thomas left Yemen, life became hell for Nimisha Priya as Mahadi used the fake marriage certificate to force her to become his second wife.
Nimisha Priya allegedly suffered physical and mental torture from Mahadi for nearly two years.
In 2017, Nimisha Priya, with the help of another woman, sedated Mahdi to get her passport that was in his possession, but he died of an overdose.
Nimisha Priya, who was arrested on charges of murder, has been in jail since.
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