New Delhi, August 14 (HS): The Supreme Court on Thursday deferred for eight weeks the hearing on a petition seeking urgent steps to save Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya from execution in Yemen.

Appearing for the petitioner group Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, counsel told the court that negotiations are currently underway and there is no immediate threat to her life. Initially, the organisation had sought a four‑week adjournment in hopes of a breakthrough, but the bench decided to push the next hearing to eight weeks.

At its last hearing on July 18, the Centre had informed the court that efforts were ongoing at all levels to secure a stay on Priya’s death sentence.

Priya was convicted in Yemen for the 2017 killing of Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi. The prosecution alleged she administered an overdose of sedatives to Mahdi, leading to his death. The nurse, who moved to Yemen in 2014 to start a clinic with Mahdi’s help — as Yemeni law permits only locals to own such businesses — claimed she faced abuse and had her passport confiscated by him. Prosecutors said she plotted with another Yemeni nurse to escape his clutches, which culminated in the fatal overdose.

Yemen’s top court rejected her appeal on March 7, 2022, leaving her on death row since.

For now, her fate hinges on sensitive diplomatic and legal negotiations — and the Supreme Court’s eventual ruling in two months’ time could prove pivotal.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar