The family of Yemeni businessman Tallal Abdo Mahdi has rejected the recent claims of pardon to Indian nurse Nimisha Priya’s death sentence, saying that Mahdi’s ‘blood is not for negotiation’.
According to News18, the family called it a baseless and unauthorised attempt to manipulate public sentiment.
In a rebuttal to a statement made by the office of Musaliyar, the Grand Mufti of India, Tallal’s brother, Abdul Fattah Mahdi, rejected any suggestion that a pardon had been granted, the report said.
“Certain preachers who claim to speak in the name of religion step forward to create a false sense of heroism for themselves — at our expense," Abdul Fattah has been quoted as saying.
He further said, “Tallal’s blood will not become merchandise in a negotiation bazaar”, referring to ongoing reports of negotiations.
Questioning the legitimacy of the claims made on behalf of the Grand Mufti, Abdul Fattah asked, “Who authorised them, when, and on what basis?"
He stressed that under Yemeni law, a death sentence can only be reversed if the victim’s family accepts blood money — a decision his family has not yet made.
“If any decision is to be made, we are the ones who will make it," he said.
He also reminded the public of the brutal nature of the act, condemning attempts to distort the gravity of the crime and said, “At the expense of a pure body that was unjustly slaughtered, mutilated, torn apart, and thrown into a water tank as if it were nothing!"
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also denied claims that the death sentence of Nimisha Priya, a Kerala nurse convicted of murder in Yemen, has been revoked.
Earlier, the office of Grand Mufti Kanthapuram AP Abubakar Musliyar stated that her sentence had been officially cancelled following a high-level meeting in Sanaa.
However, they later clarified that no official written confirmation has been received from Yemeni authorities.
Nimisha, who moved to Yemen in 2008, had entered a business partnership with Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi. Their relationship deteriorated after alleged harassment, and in an attempt to retrieve her passport, she reportedly sedated Mahdi, resulting in his death from a suspected overdose in 2017.
Convicted in 2018, she was sentenced to death in 2020. Although her execution was initially scheduled for July 16, it was halted following diplomatic appeals by Indian officials and religious leaders, leading to a temporary suspension of the sentence.
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