12 years since their last meeting, Premakumari reaches Yemen prison to see daughter Nimisha Priya

SANAA: Premakumari, mother of Nimisha Priya- a Malayali facing death row in Yemen, reached the prison to see her daughter. She reached the prison along with Indian embassy officials Nafa and Samuel Jerome. Premakumari last saw Nimisha in 2012 and this is their first meeting in 12 years.

Premakumari, who reached Sana'a from Aden by road yesterday at 11 am Indian time, submitted the application to the prison authorities through human rights activist Samuel Jerome.

Efforts are also being made to negotiate with the tribal chiefs regarding Nimisha Priya's release. Attempts are being made to settle with the victim's family by paying blood money. If the relatives forgive, Nimisha Priya could be released from prison. On July 25, 2017, Nimisha was sentenced to death for killing a Yemeni native and hiding his body in a water tank above his house.

While Nimisha Priya was working as a nurse, the said man promised to help her start her clinic, and then seized her passport and tried to make her his wife. These incidents led to the murder. Nimisha, who was subjected to brutal torture, injected the man with an overdose of medicine on the instructions of another woman and man who worked at the clinic, which led to the death of the victim. Haan, a local nurse who helped administer the drug, is serving a life sentence in the same prison.

Although the central government opposed Premakumari's trip, the favourable stand from the Delhi High Court was decisive. According to the Centre, insurgents rule in Sana'a and security cannot be guaranteed. The High Court had directed that the mother should hand over the information related to the trip to the Centre and she should also give an affidavit that she is going to Yemen on her own responsibility.