In a major relief to Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, convicted of murder in Yemen, her death sentence announced by Yemeni authorities has been “cancelled” and “completely cancelled”, the office of Indian Grand Mufti Abu Bakar Musliyar in Kanthapuram, Andhra Pradesh reported.
According to a statement issued by the office of the Indian Grand Mufti, the decision to cancel Nimisha Priya’s death sentence was taken after a high-level meeting held in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, which reportedly decided that her execution, which was earlier temporarily suspended, would be “completely cancelled”.
Nimisha Priya, a 37-year-old Indian nurse from Kerala, was earlier scheduled to be hanged by Yemeni authorities on July 16, but her death sentence was temporarily suspended a day before after the intervention of the Indian government. The Indian government had requested the Yemeni authorities to give the family more time to reach an amicable solution with the other party.
A statement issued by the office of the Indian Grand Mufti, Kanthapuram AP Abubakar Musliyar, said, “The death sentence of Nimisha Priya, which was earlier suspended, has been revoked. A high-level meeting held in Sana’a decided to completely revoke the death sentence, which was earlier temporarily suspended.”
The Ministry of External Affairs had said on July 17 that it was actively working to provide all possible assistance to Nimisha Priya in Yemen. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said during a press conference that the ministry has appointed a lawyer to assist nurse Priya’s family in the legal proceedings in Yemen.