• Source:JND
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An influential Sunni Muslim cleric, Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar has stepped in to save imisha Priya, a nurse from Kerala facing death sentence in Yemen. News agency PTI reported that Musliyar is making "all possible efforts" to save her as the scheduled execution draws near.

Musliyar is a 94-year-old cleric who is officially known as Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad. He holds the title of Grand Mufti of India. As part of his efforts, Musliyar held talks with religious authorities in Yemen, who are in contact with the family of Talal Abdo Mahdi, the Yemeni national Priya allegedly killed in 2017.

Nimisha Priya is set to be executed on July 16 for the murder of Mahdi, her Yemeni business partner. Priya hails from Palakkad district, was sentenced to death in 2020, and her final appeal was rejected in 2023.

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PTI, based on sources, reported that negotiations regarding blood money have taken place, and the details were conveyed accordingly to the concerned parties in Kerala.

However, no official communication regarding the status of the negotiations has emerged so far. As per the Shariah law applied in Yemen, blood money is a financial compensation paid to the family of a person who has been killed.

The blood money is a legally sanctioned alternative to capital punishment in Islamic jurisprudence. At Musliyar's headquarters, an office has been opened to facilitate the negotiations.

Priya is currently lodged in a jail in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. Earlier today, the Central government informed the Supreme Court that it could do "nothing much" in the case of the nurse facing execution on July 16.

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Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, informed a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta that the government was doing "utmost possible" but there is very little it could do.

"The Government of India is trying its best," Venkataramani said, "and has also engaged with some sheikhs who are very influential people there."

(With PTI Imputs)