Behind the scenes, how Nimisha Priya’s execution was postponed and what happens next

Prior to approaching the President through ruler of the Al Wasab region, Baskaran last week met the director general of prosecution and the jail authorities, where Priya was lodged. With the involvement of Indian mission officials and local authorities, the negotiator got a plea from Priya’s mother Prema Kumari, pleading with the President to postpone the execution.

In December 2024, it was the Yemeni President who approved Priya’s death sentence. Baskaran said the President’s order reached the prosecutor on Monday.

Subsequently, the public prosecutor of the Republic of Yemen on July 14 issued an order to the director of the central correctional facility, saying that based on the direction of the attorney general, the execution of the retaliation sentence against Priya is postponed.

Sources familiar with the discussion said the communication regarding deferring the execution was delayed to avoid a law and order situation. “Talal’s family has not pardoned the woman so far. Many people were proceeding to the prison to witness the execution on Wednesday. Hence, any disclosure of the decision to defer the execution at an early date would have created a law and order issue,’’ sources said.

“The final step (to stop the execution) is the consent from the Talal family. The key to Nimisha’s life rests with the family of Talal. They have to forgive her and our job is to convince the family to forgive her,” he said.

Samuel, who had also helped evacuate Indians from Yemen in 2015, said further details of the negotiations cannot be revealed at this stage. Samuel was in India when the final execution order fixing July 16 as the date came out last week. He then rushed back to Yemen to resume the negotiations.

In India, government sources said the Centre had “made concerted efforts in recent days to seek more time for the family to reach a mutually agreeable solution with the other party”. Priya’s family and supporters hope to reach a “blood money” deal with the family of the victim so that she could be pardoned under Sharia law.

Sources also said Indian officials have been in regular touch with the local jail authorities and the prosecutor’s office in Yemen.