Yemen court upholds death sentence awarded to Kerala woman in murder case

Yemen court has upheld the death sentence awarded to a Kerala woman for the murder of Yemeni citizen Talal Abdu Mahadi in 2017.

The Appeal Court of Yemen has rejected the appeal against the death sentence of a Kerala woman in the murder case of a Yemeni citizen. Nimisha Priya, a native of Kerala's Palakkad district, has been jailed in Yemen for murdering Talal Abdu Mahadi.

The incident happened in 2017. Nimisha Priya's family had approached the Court of Appeal against the death sentence. The plea was heard by the court in the Yemen capital, Sanaa.

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Nimisha Priya submitted the plea seeking commutation of the sentence on the grounds of being a woman and considering her elderly mother and her six-year-old son.

The next step for her is to approach the Supreme Judicial Council. However, under the current Yemeni legal system, it is unlikely that Nimisha Priya will receive any relief. The Court of Appeal rejected all of her arguments as grounds for overturning the death penalty. The appellate court upheld the lower court's decision on the basis of the evidence.

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If necessary, she can technically approach the Supreme Judicial Council. The President of Yemen is chairing the council. However, the panel will only look into whether the legal proceedings in the case so far have been technically correct. The Supreme Judicial Council will not go into the merits of the case. Therefore, the death sentence is less likely to be commuted.