Delhi HC grants permission to Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya's mother to visit Yemen

The Delhi High Court has granted permission to Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya's mother to visit Yemen. Nimisha Priya was sentenced to death in Yemen over murder charges in 2017.

Delhi: The Delhi High Court has granted permission to Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya's mother to visit Yemen.  The High Court passed an order in favor of a petition filed by a mother seeking permission to visit her daughter in Yemen who is currently facing the death penalty. The High Court directed the Ministry of External Affairs to take steps in this regard. While issuing the order, the High Court asked why the Ministry was blocking her when she sought permission to go to save her daughter's life. During the hearing, the Ministry of External Affairs objected to the permission. 

The Centre had earlier informed the Delhi HC that Yemen's Supreme Court rejected Nimisha Priya's appeal against the death sentence on November 16. Nimisha Priya was sentenced to death in Yemen over murder charges in 2017. She was convicted of murdering Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi.

On April 11, the Supreme Court in Yemen expedited the proceedings against Nimisha Priya on the death penalty for the murder of the Yemeni citizen, following the petition filed by the family of the victim seeking to execute the punishment immediately.

Priya’s death sentence was upheld by an appeal court on March 7, 2022. According to Islamic law, if the victim's family pardons the criminal, the death penalty may be suspended; this may entail paying "blood money" (compensation to the victim's family).

Nimisha Priya's release will be possible only if Talal's family forgives the death sentence after the Sana'a High Court upholds it.