Kozhikode: Hope has emerged for Nimisha Priya, the Malayali nurse on death row in Yemen for the murder of a Yemeni national, as discussions are underway to halt her execution following a request from the Indian Grand Mufti and All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama General Secretary, Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar. Yemeni Sufi scholar Shaikh Habeeb Ummer is leading the emergency meeting in northern Yemen.

The talks are reportedly being attended by Habeeb Abdurahman Ali Mashhour, a representative of Shaikh Habeeb. Representatives from the Yemeni government, a judge from the Jinayat court, tribal leaders, and the victim Talal's brother are also participating.

According to a statement from Kanthapuram’s office, he has appealed directly to the victim’s family to pardon Nimisha without seeking blood money (diya). The office expressed hope that the discussions would yield a positive outcome by Monday evening.

Nimisha Priya, a nurse from the Palakkad district of Kerala, was convicted of murdering her Yemeni business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, in 2017. She was sentenced to death in 2020, and her final appeal was rejected in 2023. As per the court order, she is scheduled to be executed on July 16.

According to Yemeni court documents, Priya allegedly drugged and murdered Mahdi in July 2017 and, with the help of another nurse, dismembered his body and disposed of the parts in an underground tank.