The Grand Mufti’s office stated the decision followed high-level meeting in capital Sanaa
Gulf News, Dubai, 28 July 2025: Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse on death row in Yemen, has reportedly been spared execution following mediation efforts, according to a statement from the office of Indian Grand Mufti Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar.
The announcement, carried by multiple media outlets, signals a major breakthrough in the long-running case. However, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has yet to officially verify the revocation of her death sentence.
The Grand Mufti’s office stated that the decision followed a high-level meeting in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and confirmed that the previously stayed sentence has now been officially revoked.
Priya from death sentence
Priya, who was convicted in 2020 for the murder of her Yemeni business partner Talal Abdo Mahdi, had been slated for execution on July 16, 2025, after her final appeal was rejected in 2023. Yemeni courts had cleared the way for her hanging, but in a dramatic last-minute turn, the sentence was stayed just a day before it was to be carried out—following what was then described as “round-the-clock efforts” by various stakeholders.
Religious diplomacy
Among the first to act was India’s Grand Mufti, Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, who used his religious networks and longstanding ties with Yemeni scholars to intervene. He reached out to Shaikh Habeeb Ummer, a prominent Sufi cleric from Yemen and a previous guest of the Grand Mufti in India, initiating a chain of religious diplomacy that helped shift the course of the case.
According to his aide Jawad Mustafawy, Shaikh Habeeb Ummer responded positively to the outreach, and soon after, word arrived that Nimisha Priya’s execution had been postponed. Also Read:
Nimisha Priya: 10 things to know about the Kerala nurse’s tragic death row case in Yemen
Multi-pronged rescue
While the Grand Mufti’s religious diplomacy played a key role, the effort to save the Kerala nurse also drew on the influence of evangelist Dr KA Paul and senior Indian government officials. Each worked different channels — religious, diplomatic, and legal — that ultimately converged to stall the execution.
Adding a dramatic twist, Dr KA Paul, founder of the Global Peace Initiative, then released a video from Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, announcing that Priya’s death sentence had been officially cancelled, not merely postponed.
Paul also offered logistical support to arrange Priya’s repatriation through countries such as Oman, Egypt, Iran, Jeddah, or Turkey — in coordination with the Indian government. He thanked Yemeni officials for their “powerful intervention” and said the mission was close to success.
New Delhi diplomacy
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which had been cautious in its public comments, confirmed last week that it remains “actively engaged” in assisting Priya’s family through Yemen’s complex legal and cultural landscape.
“We have extended legal aid, appointed a defence lawyer, arranged regular consular visits, and remain in close contact with both the family and Yemeni authorities,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. “Our efforts helped create room for further negotiations.”
Though officials continue to describe the situation as “extremely sensitive,” the combined impact of the government’s quiet diplomacy and the faith-based interventions by the Grand Mufti and KA Paul reflect a rare case of multi-layered, cross-sectoral collaboration — all aimed at saving one life from the gallows.
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