Kanthapuram talks to Yemeni scholar in bid to save Nimisha Priya’s life

A last-minute intervention by India’s Grand Mufti and Sunni leader Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar has sparked hope for Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya who is scheduled to be executed by the Yemeni government on July 16.

Mr. Aboobacker Musliar has reportedly reached out to the brother of Talal Abdo Mahdi, the victim in the case, through prominent Yemeni Islamic scholar Habib Omar bin Hafiz in a last-ditch effort to seek a reprieve for Nimisha.

A court in Yemen sentenced Nimisha to death for allegedly murdering her business partner Mahdi. The Yemeni Supreme Court upheld the death sentence in 2023.

Onus on family

In a final bid to save Nimisha, Mr. Aboobacker Musliar has appealed to Mahdi’s family to pardon her. With her execution looming, Nimisha’s fate now rests on the victim’s family’s willingness to accept $1 million in diyah (blood money) and grant her clemency.

Sources close to Mr. Aboobacker Musliar have been hopeful that Habib Omar’s respected status and influence in Yemeni society will help secure a favourable outcome for Nimisha.

Humanitarian concerns

Although Mr. Aboobacker Musliar’s office has not commented about his intervention, his close aides said that his efforts were driven by humanitarian concerns. “There is nothing more virtuous than saving the life of a fellow being,” they said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Aboobacker Musliar’s intervention has drawn criticism on social media, with some questioning his priorities and asking why he did not help others languishing in Indian jails.