Former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph has joined the efforts to secure a pardon for Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya in Yemen. She is facing the death penalty for the murder of a Yemeni national and has been in jail since 2020. Justice Kurian will coordinate the efforts.
Nimisha Priya is charged with the murder of Talal Abdo Mahdi after she injected him with sedatives in 2017. Her intention was to get her passport which was in his possession because he was abusing and torturing her. The Kerala woman appealed against the death row saying the sedatives were her last resort to get back to her family. The court found her guilty of chopping his body into pieces and disposing of them in a water tank at her house.
The Yemeni court has dismissed her appeals, and the only saving grace now is to gain pardon from the family of the deceased. The local law demands that the family is paid blood money. The Shariat law states that the legal heir of the deceased can be compensated in order to get the death sentence to be commuted, reported The News Minute.
'Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council' has been trying to get Nimisha out of the death penalty and approached a former top court judge. He was brought in after the council deduced that Nimisha did not receive proper legal assistance.
Justice Kurian will be in charge of holding talks with the deceased's family. He will be accompanied by a group including Nimisha's mother and daughter. The Indian government has been requested to provide legal remedies and interpreters, reported The News Minute.
The Delhi High Court refused to involve the Union Government in the negotiation for blood money. The Union government counsel Anurag Ahluwalia said that the authorities can initiate legal actions and consular access.