Kin of murdered Yemeni refuse pardon for Nimisha Priya

The family of the Yemeni national for whose murder Kerala-born expat nurse Nimisha Priya was sentenced to death has ruled out accepting any proposal for a pardon, suggesting her execution being postponed at the intervention of Indian authorities and religious leaders, was at best a temporary reprieve.

"Nimisha won't be pardoned; she must face execution, as ruled by Yemen i courts," online news portals in Yemen quoted murder victim Talal Abdo Mahdi's brother Abdelfattah Mahdi as saying.

News of the Yemeni authorities deciding to keep the execution scheduled for Wednesday on hold till further orders came the previous day, raising hope in her native Kerala that there could yet be a breakthrough in negotiations.


Want retribution , nothing else: Kin of murdered Yemeni man
Abdelfattah dismissed any such possibility, including accepting blood money . "What is happening today, and all the talk of mediation and reconciliation attempts, is neither new nor surprising," he posted on his Facebook page.

"Throughout the years of pursuing our case, there were covert efforts and serious attempts at mediation - and that is natural and expected. But the pressures we faced did not change us. Our demand is clear: qisas (retribution) and nothing else, no matter what."

Abdelfattah said the execution being postponed on the eve of the date fixed by the prison authorities on court orders was something the Mahdi family didn't expect. "Those who stopped it are well aware of our absolute rejection of any form or method of reconciliation. We will follow through with the execution until it is carried out... Blood cannot be bought. Justice cannot be forgotten."

Nimisha, who is on death row since 2018, is from Kollengode in Palakkad. She was convicted of murdering Talal, with whom she had started a clinic in Sana'a, after he allegedly tortured her and seized her passport.

Sunni leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Muslaiyar, who holds the title of "Grand Mufti" of India, sought the help of Yemeni Islamic scholar Sheikh Habib Omar to persuade the Mahdi family to accept blood money and grant a pardon to Nimisha.

"We have been waging a legal battle and making diplomatic moves to rescue Nimisha Priya for the past five years. Talks between Musaliyar and the family over blood money are becoming complicated... This is creating problems for Nimisha's acquittal," the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council said.