Execution deferred, Nimisha Priya awaits fate in Yemen: How 'blood money' has saved Indians before

Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya’s execution in Yemen has been postponed, but only temporarily. Convicted of murdering her former Yemeni business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, Nimisha was due to be hanged on July 16, i.e. today. Her only hope now lies in the hands of Mahdi’s family, who can choose to forgive her in exchange for blood money – a provision under Islamic law that allows the victim’s kin to accept monetary compensation and spare the convict from capital punishment.

India has seen several such cases before, where citizens facing the death penalty abroad were saved through this centuries-old practice.

What is ‘blood money’?

Under Islamic Sharia law, the family of a murder victim can pardon the offender in exchange for compensation known as diyah. The practice is grounded in the Quran:

“O believers! The law of retaliation is set for you in cases of murder…But if the offender is pardoned by the victim’s guardian, then ‘blood money’ should be decided fairly…”

This legal framework is recognised in countries like Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan: by accepting diyah, governments typically suspend or commute death sentences for those convicted of murder.

Indians saved through blood money

Abdul Rahim (Kerala, Saudi Arabia, 2024): Abdul Rahim, an autorickshaw driver from Kozhikode, Kerala, was saved from execution in Saudi Arabia last year after Rs 34 crore was raised through crowdfunding to pay blood money.

Rahim had moved to Saudi in 2006 for work and was employed as a driver and caretaker for a Saudi family. A month into the job, he accidentally struck a medical device attached to a paralysed teenage boy’s throat while trying to calm him down. The boy fainted and later died, and Rahim was sentenced to death for murder.

After the blood money was paid, his sentence was reduced to 20 years in jail. He is expected to be released by December 2026.

AS Sankaranarayanan (UAE, 2017): In 2017, AS Sankaranarayanan returned to Kerala after spending years in a UAE prison over the accidental death of a Bangladeshi worker, who was electrocuted in a washroom in 2009.

He was ordered to pay Rs 47 lakh as blood money to the victim’s family but couldn’t afford it. After Gulf News reported his story, many came forward to help. Eventually, Emirates Islamic Bank paid the full amount, leading to his release.

CH Limbadri (Saudi Arabia, 2017): CH Limbadri, a gardener from Telangana, was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia in 2007 after he pushed an 82-year-old man, allegedly trying to steal, who later died.

He was arrested and given the death penalty. Thanks to efforts by the Indian government and BRS leader K Kavitha, his employer paid Rs 1.80 lakh as blood money to the victim’s family. Limbadri was released and returned home in March 2017.

Three Indians in UAE (2014): In 2014, three Indian men on death row in Saudi Arabia for the murder of their compatriot were saved from execution after an Indian businessman paid nearly Rs 1.12 crore blood money on their behalf.

Saleem Basha (Saudi Arabia, 2013): Saleem Basha, a truck driver from Bengaluru, avoided the death penalty in 2013 after Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah paid around Rs 1.5 crore in blood money to the families of nine people killed in a 2006 road accident.

Nimisha Priya’s last hope: Blood Money

Nimisha Priya’s execution has been deferred, but only temporarily; her fate now hinges on whether Mahdi’s family will accept blood money and grant her pardon.

Hailing from Palakkad, Kerala, she remains detained in rebel-controlled Sana’a. The Save Nimisha Priya Action Council has offered Rs 8.5 crore in diyah.

Officials in Delhi are actively negotiating, with the External Affairs Ministry telling the Supreme Court that the government “made concerted efforts in recent days to seek more time for the family of Ms Nimisha Priya to reach a mutually agreeable solution with the other party.”

Attorney General R. Venkataramani added, “There is a point up to which the Government of India can go and we have reached that point.”

With Yemen embroiled in conflict since 2011, the legal window to arrange blood money is extremely narrow, and Nimisha’s life may well depend on reaching an agreement soon.