The Delhi High Court has called for the Central Government’s response to a plea by the mother of Nimisha Priya, a Kerala nurse on death row in Yemen. The plea seeks to facilitate her travel to Yemen to negotiate with the victim’s family about paying blood money to save her daughter. This urgent hearing, presided over by Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, comes after Yemen’s top court dismissed Priya’s appeal on November 13.
Nimisha Priya, who worked as a nurse in Yemen, was convicted of murdering Talal Abdo Mahdi in July 2017. The incident involved Priya administering sedatives to Mahdi to retrieve her passport from his possession, leading to his death from an overdose. Priya’s mother, in her plea, is not asking the government to pay the blood money but is seeking permission to travel to Yemen for negotiations.
During the hearing, the counsel for the Centre cautioned against the mother’s visit to Yemen, citing the volatile conditions in the Middle East and the absence of Indian consular services in the country. The Centre’s counsel stated,
“We advised that please don’t go there because it will not be possible for us to provide any service. There is no single Indian there to help you or to provide security to you. We don’t want people to go there or to be exposed to hostile position. There is no consular officer there or even connection with the current government in Yemen.”
The court inquired if the woman wishes to travel to Yemen at her own risk, to which her counsel responded that she might have to initiate negotiations herself if the government is unable to do so. Additionally, the Centre’s counsel informed the court that there are no direct flights operating from India to Yemen.
Justice Arora directed the Centre’s counsel to take specific instructions about whether the woman can be permitted to fly to the nearest country if she decides to travel to Yemen at her own risk. However, he stated that the minor child cannot travel to Yemen as she cannot be exposed to any risk or hostile environment.
The ‘Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council’ had previously approached the high court, seeking the Centre’s intervention in negotiating with the victim’s family on behalf of Nimisha Priya to pay the blood money as per Yemeni law. The petition also alleged that Mahdi had forged documents to show a marriage with Priya and had abused and tortured her.
The high court had last month asked the Centre to decide within a week on the woman’s request to travel to Yemen. The Central government, meanwhile, expressed concern that the blood money negotiation could potentially turn into a ransom demand.