The Delhi High Court on Monday expressed its reservation on a plea where an Indian is convicted of a crime that has taken place in a foreign country. "This happened in Yemen. How does this court have jurisdiction then? How is this maintainable?", Justice V Kameshwar Rao observed on a plea that sought government intervention in a matter where an Indian nurse in Yemen is facing the death penalty for murder.
Justice Rao asked the Centre to take instructions on this issue and apprise the same tomorrow.
Earlier this month on March 7, a Yemeni court upheld the death penalty awarded to Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kerala, for killing Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi in 2017.
Even as a final appeal is pending before Yemen's Supreme Court, the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council—a group of NRI Keralites-Indians—has filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court seeking government intervention on Priya's behalf to convince the victim's family to accept the blood money.
According to a plea in the Delhi High Court, Priya dosed Mahdi with sedatives so that she could take her passport back and escape from his clutches. However, instead of being rendered unconscious, Mahdi died of an overdose. Though the petition fails to mention this, news reports suggest that Priya chopped Mahdi's body into pieces and disposed of the remains in a water tank.
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Willing to pay "blood money" for pardon: Plea in HC
Tomy Thomas's hopes were dashed on March 7 when Yemen's appeal court upheld the death penalty awarded to his wife Nimisha Priya for killing a Yemeni national. Even though a final appeal is still pending in Yemen's Supreme Court, the petition filed by advocate Subhash Chandran KR says Nimisha Priya is unlikely to be spared for the 2017 murder. The petition says that Yemen's top court "rarely sets aside the verdict of the appeal court as it will only examine if any procedural errors affected the outcome of the case, not its merits."
So, Nimisha Priya has only one option left. The appeals court in Yemen has given Priya the option of offering the victim's family blood money and hope they pardon her. Under Sharia, blood money is the concept where a perpetrator offers compensation to a victim's family in exchange for pardon.
However, several issues arise if blood money is to be exercised as an option.
India issued an advisory cautioning Indians from travelling to Yemen due to security concerns; thus, Priya's family or her representatives are unable to go there in person and initiate negotiations. In the event, the victim's family does accept the blood money, Priya's family members have no means of transferring the money because India has limited financial transactions to Yemen.
The petition in the high court thus seeks the Centre's assistance in initiating negotiations with the victim's family because once Yemen's Supreme Court decides on the appeal and upholds the capital punishment, execution can take place anytime. Priya's counsels in Yemen have 40 days from March 7 to file an appeal in their top court.
However, during the hearing in the high court, the organisation Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, which has taken up Priya's cause, said they would drop its request seeking the Centre's help with the facilitation of financial transactions if the Indian government agreed to file a formal pardon appeal in Yemen's Supreme Court.
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Who is Nimisha Priya and why did she commit murder?
A trained nurse, Nimisha Priya worked in private hospitals in Yemen for a few years. When a civil war broke out in Yemen, Priya's husband Tomy Thomas and their minor daughter returned to India in 2014. Soon after, the Centre stopped issuing new visas.
In 2015, Priya and Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi set up an independent clinic in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen. Under Yemen's law, only nationals are allowed to set up clinics and business firms. However, relations between Priya and Mahdi soured after the Yemeni national took possession of her passport; forged papers to take complete ownership of the clinic and embezzled money. The plea alleges that Mahdi had even morphed photos to show that Priya was his wife.
Priya further alleged that Mahdi harassment progressed to physical torture which included threatening her at gunpoint. When local law enforcement arrested her instead of granting her protection, Priya sought help of a warden at the jail near her clinic, where Mahdi had been previously imprisoned under various charges.
The plea further submits that the warden had advised Priya to dose Mahdi with sedatives and run away after taking her passport. However, the plan to sedate Mahdi failed on account of him allegedly being a habitual substance abuser which then prompted her to use a stronger dose that eventually led to his murder, the plea alleged.
Priya's husband Thomas is an auto driver in Palakkad, their hometown in Kerala. Her minor daughter is allegedly in an orphanage while Priya's mother works as a domestic help
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