Following the Yemen authorities’ decision to postpone the execution of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, which was scheduled to be carried out on Wednesday, prominent Muslim leader and general secretary of the All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar, who made a crucial intervention in the postponement of her execution , said he intervened as a human being.
“I intervened as a human being. I asked the religious scholars there to intervene for the sake of humanity,” Aboobacker Musliyar said.
“Chandy Oommen (Puthuppally MLA and son of former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy) has taken the responsibility of collecting donations for blood money. I will continue to intervene in the matter. I have informed the Prime Minister’s Office that I will intervene,” he further said.
Aboobacker Musliyar said in Kozhikode that he has received an official copy of the court order stating that the death sentence of Nimisha Priya has been postponed. He shared the copy of the order on Social media, writing prayers are paying off.
The copy of the Yemani court order states that the execution has been postponed until further orders but does not say when the case will be considered next. “Let Allah’s blessings be upon all who had worked and prayed for Nimisha evading the execution,” Aboobacker Musliyar said in a message posted on Instagram.
Aboobacker Musaliyar approached prominent Yemen Sufi scholar Habib Omar bin Hafiz in a last-ditch effort to seek a reprieve for Nimisha. He urged the Sufi scholar to hold discussions with the family of Talal Abdo Mahdi, the victim in the case. Following the request, the Sufi scholar held discussions with the family of Talal on Monday.
The discussions held in North Yemen on Monday were attended by Sheikh Habib Omar’s representative Habib Abdurrahman Ali Mashhoor, Yemeni government representatives, the Supreme Judge of the Criminal Court, Talal’s brother, and tribal leaders. The proposal in the discussion is that Talal’s family should accept blood money and pardon Nimisha Priya.
Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar also intervened for Nimishapriya’s release and spoke to the Ministry of External Affairs. He put forward the demand for a stay on Nimishapriya’s death sentence and spoke to expatriate businessman MA Yusufali. MA Yusufali informed the governor that he would pay any amount of money for the release of Nimisha Priya.
Meanwhile, Kerala Ministers Veena George, R Bindu, V Sivankutty, opposition leader V D Satheesan former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, and Congress MP Sashi Tharoor have praised Musaliar’s intervention for postponing the execution of Nimisha Priya.
Nimisha Priya, a native of Palakkad in Kerala, was convicted of murdering Yemeni citizen Talal Abido Mehdi and sentenced to death by a local court in Yemen in June 2018. The death sentence issued by the trial court was upheld by Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023.
Nimisha had worked as a nurse in Yemen for several years until she was accused of murder in 2017. With Talal’s support, Nimish ran a clinic in Yemen, but she allegedly faced mental, physical and financial abuse, which culminated in the killing.