With time running out, India’s Grand Mufti leads last-ditch mediation to save the nurse through Sharia’s forgiveness provision; victim’s family holds the key.
New Delhi: 15 July 2025
With just hours remaining before her scheduled execution on July 16, Nimisha Priya a 32-year-old nurse from Kerala faces the gravest moment of her life as urgent diplomatic and religious efforts intensify in Yemen. Convicted for the 2017 murder of Yemeni businessman Talal Abdo Mahdi, Priya’s only hope now rests on a provision in Sharia law that allows the victim’s family to grant a pardon in exchange for diyya or “blood money.”
Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, the Grand Mufti of India, has taken matters into his own hands by working behind the scenes through his office in Kerala and with his religious advisors in Yemen. Sources have informed that back-channel discussions have reached a critical stage with Mahdi’s family and during talks about a potential payment of $1 million, Mahdi’s family is expected to reach a decision shortly.
In 2020, Priya received a death sentence, and her final appeal was dismissed in 2023. She now has no legal options and there is little scope for intervention on the basis of diplomacy, considering the ongoing turmoil in Yemen, where Indian officials are now basing their multilateral engagements. In a recent Supreme Court ruling, the Indian government acknowledged that further intervention may be limited.
The case has received substantial attention from human rights advocates; some argue that given Yemen is experiencing civil war, Priya’s trial many fell short of international legal standards. People close to Priya assert that the incident stemmed from a business dispute and therefore Priya’s actions were conducted out of self-defense.
As the world watches on, this exceptionally sensitive/sentimental case is teetering between laws, faith, and diplomacy – where forgiveness from one family may be the difference between life and death.
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