Mercy Found A Messenger: Indian Nurse Nimisha Priya’s Death Sentence Overturned In Yemen After Kerala Grand Mufti’s Intervention

File photo of Nimisha Priya (X/@myvakil)

New Delhi: Her name echoed in protests and petitions across India for months. Now, finally, there is a glimmer of relief. Nimisha Priya, the Indian nurse who had been sentenced to death in Yemen, is no longer on death row. Long suspended in legal limbo, her fate shifted this week after a determined effort came to light.

The office of Indian Grand Mufti Kanthapuram AP Abubakker Musliyar confirmed the development in a public statement: “The death sentence of Nimisha Priya, which was previously suspended, has been overturned. A high-level meeting held in Sanaa decided to completely cancel the death sentence that was temporarily suspended earlier.”

The announcement followed weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations involving Yemeni tribal leaders, religious intermediaries, the team of the Grand Mufti and other Indian representatives working through unofficial channels.

A trained nurse from Kerala, Nimisha had been convicted in Yemen in a high-profile case that drew both diplomatic concern and public outrage. She was accused of killing her Yemeni partner, a charge she and her supporters have contested as a desperate act of survival in a situation marked by abuse and confinement.

A “blood money” settlement was long speculated as the only possible way to save her life under Yemeni law. That effort intensified earlier this year when her mother, Vasantha, publicly pleaded for help to raise the compensation needed.

While full details of the meeting in Sanaa remain under wraps, what is now confirmed is that Nimisha Priya will not be executed.

The news was received with cautious celebration among those who had worked quietly for months to open communication lines in Yemen’s deeply tribal and war-scarred judicial system.

Authorities and legal observers have said this case may set a rare precedent for intervention in personal law matters in Yemen, especially involving foreign nationals. Further updates are expected in the coming days on whether Nimisha will be released or serve a prison term under local laws.

For now, though, the noose has been removed. And for a mother, a daughter and those who believed in second chances, that makes all the difference.