Government Denies Grand Mufti’s Claim of Death Sentence Reversal for Nurse Nimisha Priya

National Times Bureau, July 29, 2025: The Indian government has strongly refuted recent statements made by the so-called ‘Grand Mufti of India,’ Kanthapuram A P Abubakar Musliyar, regarding the legal status of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, sources confirmed on Tuesday. Officials from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the Grand Mufti’s claims about a complete reversal of Priya’s death sentence in Yemen as “inaccurate.”

On Monday, Musliyar publicly stated that Nimisha Priya’s capital punishment had been entirely overturned by Yemeni authorities. However, he admitted that no official written confirmation of the decision had been received from Sana’a. According to him, the information was based on discussions held during a recent meeting between a group of Yemeni scholars and Northern Yemen’s ruling authorities, which he claimed was facilitated at his request.

Nimisha Priya, a 37-year-old nurse from Kerala, was convicted in 2017 for the murder of a Yemeni national, Mahdi, and was sentenced to death by a Yemeni court in 2018. Her execution was originally scheduled for July 16 this year but was postponed.

The Grand Mufti’s office had earlier claimed that during a high-level meeting in Yemen, key decisions regarding Priya’s fate were discussed. The talks allegedly involved scholars handpicked by Sheikh Umar Hafeel Thangal and attended by senior regional leaders and international diplomats. According to Musliyar’s representatives, several resolutions were taken during the session, although further deliberations were still expected.

Despite these assertions, MEA sources made it clear that there has been no official change in Priya’s legal status and that the Indian government continues to pursue diplomatic efforts through proper legal channels in coordination with Yemeni authorities.