KC Venugopal writes to PM Modi to save Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya from execution in Yemen
New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI): Congress leader K C Venugopal on Saturday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in saving Kerala-born Nimisha Priya from execution in Yemen.
In a post on X, Venugopal said Priya is a victim of "unimaginable cruelty and domestic abuse on foreign soil."
"The death sentence against Nimisha Priya is a grave travesty of justice. She is a victim of unimaginable cruelty and domestic abuse on foreign soil, driven to the brink," the Congress general secretary, organisation, said in his post.
"I've written to the PM seeking urgent intervention to prevent her execution," he added. The nurse from Kerala is slated to be sent to the gallows on July 16 in Yemen.
In his letter to the prime minister, Venugopal said, "While efforts have been made by the Action Council and her family to negotiate with the victim's family to accept 'blood money' (diyah), which could potentially spare her life, these negotiations have faced significant challenges, due to ongoing civil war and other internal disturbances."
He urged the PM to intervene with "utmost priority imploring all possible diplomatic measures with the Yemeni authorities" to get the nurse off death row.
Nimisha Priya, who hails from Kollengode in Palakkad district of Kerala, was convicted in 2020 for the murder of her Yemeni business partner in July 2017.
Last November, Yemen's Supreme Judicial Council rejected her appeal, and the country's public prosecutor ordered that her sentence be carried out on Tuesday.
Calls for urgent intervention have grown louder in Kerala against the verdict.
Communist Party of India Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar on Thursday wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and urged him to use "every possible diplomatic and humanitarian channel" to secure a stay on the nurse's execution
Priya is currently being held in Sana'a Central Prison.
The death sentence against Nimisha Priya is a grave travesty of justice. She is a victim of unimaginable cruelty and domestic abuse on foreign soil, driven to the brink.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) July 12, 2025
She doesn’t deserve to die.
I’ve written to the PM seeking urgent intervention to prevent her execution. pic.twitter.com/PI18YZZGCY
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Dense fog disrupts operations at Delhi airport; 228 flights cancelled, 5 diverted
New Delhi (PTI): Dense fog disrupted flight operations at Delhi Airport on Monday, with various airlines cancelling 228 flights and diverting five to nearby airports due to low visibility, an official said.
However, except for Air India, which had in an X post in the morning announced the cancellation of some 40 flights, no other airlines, including crisis-hit IndiGo, shared the numbers of their cancelled or delayed flights.
"As many as 228 flights -- 131 departures and 97 arrivals-- have been cancelled due to low visibility, so far," the airport official said.
In addition to this, five flights have been diverted so far, he said.
Earlier, the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), in a statement, said, "Our on-ground officials are working closely with all stakeholders to assist passengers and provide necessary support across Terminals.
"Low visibility (below minima), due to dense fog, has severely impacted operations at Delhi and other airports across northern India, which is unfortunately beyond our control," IndiGo said in a statement.
As operations are adjusted to prevailing weather conditions, some flights may experience delays, while a few others may be proactively cancelled during the day to prioritise safety and minimise extended waiting at the airport, the airline said in a statement.
IndiGo, however, did not say how many of its flights were cancelled or delayed.
The airline said its teams are "closely monitoring" the situation and coordinating with Delhi airport.
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IndiGo also said it issued advisories to its customers and "proactively" informing them, to minimise inconvenience.
“Poor visibility due to dense fog in Delhi this morning has impacted flight operations for all airlines. We are closely monitoring conditions and will resume operations as soon as it is safe to do so,” Air India said in a post on X in the morning.
It also said that some flights have been cancelled In the interest of safety, and to avoid prolonged uncertainty for the guests, while listing out some 40 arrivals and departures that it had cancelled for the day.
Delhi airport is the country's busiest, handling around 1,300 flight movements daily.
