Nimisha Priya Execution | Blood Money Negotiations: Abdelfattah Mehdi, brother of Talal Abdo Mehdi who was allegedly killed by Indian nurse Nimisha Priya in 2017, has stated that there can be “no pardon” for the crime and insisted that Priya “has to be executed.” His remarks come as the execution, initially scheduled for Wednesday, has been deferred following diplomatic and religious interventions.
Abdelfattah also criticized the Indian media, accusing it of “distorting things to portray the convicted as a victim,” expressing strong displeasure over the narrative being shaped around the case.
The delay in execution followed extensive negotiations involving the Indian government, Saudi-based organisations, and Kerala-based religious leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar, who reportedly reached out to a Yemeni Shoora Council member to mediate.
Blood Money Talks Begin as Execution Stalls
Kerala CPI(M) state secretary M. V. Govindan met with Musliyar on Wednesday and confirmed that the execution has been put on hold for now. “Musliyar has told me that the execution has been kept in abeyance, and there are more aspects which are being discussed,” Govindan said. “He said people are engaged in talks with authorities in Yemen and also the family who has to give the pardon.”
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Although the victim’s family holds the power to grant clemency under Sharia law, internal disagreement has emerged among them. Negotiators and religious leaders are now trying to secure a resolution.
Attention is now focused on arranging the ‘blood money’, a legally sanctioned compensation under Islamic law. Kerala-based billionaire M A Yusuf Ali has reportedly offered financial assistance to support the process.
Nimisha Priya, who moved to Yemen in 2008, was convicted in 2018 of murdering her former business partner Talal Mehdi. Reports say she administered sedatives to Mehdi in an attempt to recover her confiscated passport. However, the sedatives proved fatal. She was arrested while trying to flee the country, sentenced to death in 2020, and the sentence was upheld by Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council in 2023.
The court, however, has kept the door open for clemency through a blood money settlement. With talks ongoing and her execution on hold, all eyes are now on the family’s final decision and whether a negotiated settlement can be reached.
