The Supreme Court of Yemen has rejected the appeal against the death sentence of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya. On Thursday, the Delhi High Court requested the Central Government to decide on a request by Priya’s mother, Prema Mary, who seeks to negotiate “blood money” or compensation to save her daughter by traveling to Yemen. Blood money refers to the compensation paid by an offender or their family to the victim or their relatives.

Priya, hailing from Palakkad district, Kerala, has been serving a prison sentence since 2017 for the murder of a Yemeni national, Talal Abdo Mahdi. Found guilty, she was sentenced to death by a trial court in 2018, and her family has been advocating for her release since then.

With the Yemeni Supreme Court rejecting her appeal on November 13, the decision now rests with the country’s President. Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, stated that the Indian Government is aware of the matter and is providing consular assistance as needed.

Following the completion of a nursing training programme, Priya went to Yemen and worked in several private hospitals. In 2014, she reportedly came into contact with Talal Abdo Mahdi, who pledged to assist her in establishing her own clinic. A partnership was necessary as Yemeni law mandates collaboration with a local for starting any business.

However, the partnership reportedly ended due to differences between Priya and Mahdi. Despite this, she proceeded to start her clinic with him in 2015. According to local reports, Mahdi began threatening Priya, who was living in Yemen with her spouse Tony Thomas and their daughter.

Mahdi allegedly confiscated her passport to prevent her from leaving Yemen. Priya filed a police complaint against Mahdi, leading to his arrest in 2016. However, after his release, he continued to harass her.

In 2017, she injected him with sedatives in an attempt to reclaim her passport from his possession. Unfortunately, he died from an overdose.

She then turned to Abdul Hanan, the nurse who had assisted her in opening her clinic, for help. Following that, the two reportedly chopped his body and threw it in a water tank.

Residents discovered Mahdi’s body, and the police launched a manhunt for her. In August 2017, Priya and Hanan were taken into custody and sentenced to life in prison. In 2018, Priya was given a death sentence following a year in jail.

Priya’s family has been fighting to get her justice since 2018. Her mother moved the Delhi High Court earlier this year, seeking permission to travel to Yemen in spite of a travel ban for Indian nationals and negotiate the “blood money” to save her daughter.

On Thursday, the Centre’s lawyer said according to a notification issued recently, the travel ban may be relaxed and Indian nationals may be allowed to travel to Yemen for specific reasons and durations.

The high court had earlier refused to direct the Centre to negotiate the payment of blood money to save the woman, but asked it to pursue the legal remedies against the conviction in Yemen. The High court asked the Centre to make a decision within a week.

In her plea, Priya’s mother told the court she wanted to negotiate the “blood money” (compensation paid by an offender or his kin to the family of the victim) to save her daughter.

Represented by lawyer Subash Chandaran KR, the woman told the court that the only way to save her daughter from the gallows was to negotiate with the deceased’s family by paying blood money, for which she wanted to travel to Yemen, but due to the travel ban, she was unable to go there.

In response, Justice Subramonium Prasad said, “In view of the representation, let the present petition be treated as a representation. The respondent is directed to decide the representation within one week from today.”

The “Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council”, a group advocating for Priya’s release, approached the high court in 2022, imploring the Centre to  “facilitate diplomatic interventions as well as negotiations with the family of the victim on behalf of Priya to save her life by paying blood money in accordance with the law of the land in a time-bound manner”.