KC Venugopal urges PM Modi to intervene to save Kerala nurse on death row in Yemen

Thiruvananthapuram, July 12 (IANS) AICC general secretary and Congress MP K.C. Venugopal has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urgently intervene to save the life of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, who is scheduled to be executed in Yemen on July 16.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Venugopal stressed the need for immediate diplomatic action.

He pointed out that while Nimisha’s family and the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council have been trying to negotiate a settlement through blood money with the victim’s family, the efforts have been hindered by Yemen’s ongoing civil war and internal instability.

“Given the complexity of the situation, I request you to intervene with utmost urgency, employing all possible diplomatic channels to persuade Yemeni authorities to cancel the death sentence,” Venugopal wrote.

Lawmakers across political lines from Kerala have already appealed to the Union government and the President of India, seeking urgent diplomatic steps to prevent the execution.

A glimmer of hope has emerged with the Supreme Court set to hear a petition on Monday, seeking directions to the Centre to act swiftly through diplomatic means to save Priya.

Priya’s husband, Tomy Thomas, and their daughter have been praying and relentlessly lobbying for her release. Thomas was recently in Thiruvananthapuram to meet Governor Rajendra V. Arlekar, seeking his support. He and Priya occasionally communicate through WhatsApp, and he has been assuring her that all possible efforts are being made to bring her home safely.

Nimisha Priya moved to Yemen in 2008 to support her impoverished parents, working as a nurse before eventually opening her own clinic. However, a dispute in 2017 with her Yemeni business partner, Mehdi, ended in tragedy. According to her family, Priya administered sedatives to Mehdi to retrieve her confiscated passport, but the overdose proved fatal.

She was arrested while attempting to flee the country and was convicted of murder in 2018. In 2020, a trial court sentenced her to death. Yemen's Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023 upheld the sentence, though it allowed for the possibility of clemency through the payment of blood money to the victim’s family.

The case has drawn widespread attention in India and abroad, raising concerns over the vulnerability of Indian nationals working overseas, especially in conflict zones.

Priya’s mother, Prema Kumari (57), has been at the forefront of the campaign to save her daughter. She even travelled to Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, to negotiate a settlement with the victim’s family. Her efforts are being supported by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, comprising NRI social workers and rights activists.

--IANS

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