Nimisha Priya Case: ‘Blood Money’ Deal Might Save Kerala Nurse from Death Sentence in Yemen

Blood Money: A glimmer of hope for 36-year-old Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, whose execution is at hand in Yemen after she was convicted of killing Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi. Priya, a trained nurse from Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, was sentenced to death in 2018 after a Yemeni court found her guilty of killing Mahdi. She has been in prison since 2017, and her family has been tirelessly fighting for her release ever since.

The latest development in the case offers a potential lifeline for Priya: a ‘blood money’ agreement, a compensation arrangement under Yemen’s Shariah law, could potentially save her from execution. This arrangement allows the family of a victim to forgive the perpetrator in exchange for monetary compensation, referred to as ‘diyya’. Priya’s family is seeking to negotiate this deal to secure her release, with the hope that they can reach a settlement with Mahdi’s family.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs has confirmed that it is “extending all possible help” in the matter. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal assured that the government is aware of the case and is providing assistance as Priya’s family explores legal and diplomatic options to bring her back home.

What is the ‘Blood Money’ Agreement?

Sharia law allows the family of the victim to forgive a criminal in exchange for some form of compensation, popularly termed ‘blood money’. In this regard, this practice known as ‘diyya’ becomes an option for the victim’s family so that it enables pardon instead of the capital punishment of the accused. In Priya’s case, she hopes that a deal is going to materialize between her blood money and her release.

Although the Supreme Judicial Council of Yemen upheld Priya’s death sentence in November 2023, the ruling also gave an opportunity for the blood money deal to be negotiated, thus avoiding execution. This clause offers a sliver of hope for Priya’s family, who have been seeking every possible legal avenue for her release.

The Struggles of the Family

Tomy Thomas, the husband of Nimisha Priya, who is fighting to live, has been at the center of all efforts to save her.

Breaking into tears, the father appealed from the depths of his heart that the blood money deal will work. He said that his two-year-old daughter has been crying for her mother since the day she left, seven years back. “We are trying for my wife to come back to stay together as one family. In my heart, I know. I feel that they will come to a stage where we can talk on ‘diya’ or blood money. I am sure. I would not lose hope,” he said, adding that his confidence and belief in the justice system were strong.

His optimism is grounded in his belief in his wife’s character, describing her as a compassionate and caring individual caught in unfortunate circumstances. The family is now desperately trying to make contact with Mahdi’s relatives to discuss the possibility of a blood money agreement.

Financial Challenges and International Support

This advance payment of blood money of the amount of $40,000 was made on November 2023. More likely, to complete the amount, Priya’s family must pay $400,000 extra to get back her daughter by completing the whole blood money bargain. The considerable amount has urged people to gather for the action council ‘Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council’ set up in the year 2020.

The Indian government intervention has been critical in delaying Priya’s execution, thus offering the family enough time to participate in negotiations. Supreme Court lawyer Subhash Chandran KR, who has been representing Priya’s mother in court, has said that the involvement of India could be important in bringing the victim’s family to the negotiating table.

The Crime that Changed Everything

Nimisha Priya’s tale begins in 2008 when she moved to Yemen to work. She married Tomy Thomas in Kerala in the year 2011. “We always had a dream of opening our own clinic,” says Thomas. However, Yemeni law required a local partner, and Talal Abdo Mahdi, a frequent patient at the clinic where Priya worked, volunteered to help them.

Priya found herself in a poisonous relationship with Mahdi. There had been several reports that Mahdi refused to share the clinic’s earnings with her. He allegedly forged documents to prove that she was his wife. She was also subjected to both physical and sexual abuse. Priya tolerated all these year-long maltreatment until she resorted to sedating Mahdi which would eventually prove fatal: he died from a drug overdose.

Now, the last hope of her family is to get a blood money agreement that will save her life and allow her to return home to Kerala, where her family awaits her.

The coming weeks will be very critical in deciding her fate. Backed by Indian government support, her family is still pursuing resolution through diplomatic and legal means. While waiting to see what would happen next, the blood money agreement is at this point in time the only viable chance that will bring her back to the loved ones for reunion with the husband and the child.