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Priya, from Kerala, India, was convicted of killing her former business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, whose dismembered body was found in a water tank in 2017. She denies the charges. Currently held in Sanaa's central jail, Priya's only chance of avoiding execution lies in securing a pardon from Mahdi's family through "diyah" or blood money, as permitted under Yemen's Sharia-based judicial system. Her supporters have raised $1m (£735,000) to offer the family, but Mahdi’s relatives insist on her execution, citing the brutality of the crime and rejecting reconciliation efforts.
Abdelfattah Mahdi, the victim's brother, told BBC Arabic that the family demands "Qisas" (retaliation in kind), dismissing attempts to portray Priya as a victim in Indian media. He emphasized the severity of the crime, which involved dismembering and hiding the body.
Indian officials have been in regular contact with Yemeni authorities amid the country's ongoing civil war since 2011. Priya’s mother, a domestic worker from Kerala, has been in Yemen since April 2024, working with a local social worker to negotiate with Mahdi’s family. Despite a failed appeal in Yemen’s Supreme Court in 2023 and approval of the execution by Houthi leader Mahdi al-Mashat in January, efforts to save Priya continue.
The postponement offers temporary relief, but her fate hinges on the willingness of Mahdi’s family to accept the offered compensation.
