Show Yemen court gave option of blood money to victim's kin to save Kerala woman from gallows: HC
New Delhi, Dec 11: The Delhi High Court Monday asked the mother of a Kerala woman, who is on death row in Yemen for killing a Yemeni national, to place documents to show that the foreign court gave her the legal option of paying blood money to negotiate with the victim's family and save her daughter from the gallows.
The high court was hearing a plea by Nimisha Priya's mother seeking facilitation of her travel as well as of three others to Yemen to negotiate with the victim's family.
Blood money refers to the compensation paid by offenders or their kin to the family of a murder victim.
The counsel for Priya's mother Prema Kumari informed Justice Subramonium Prasad that the Yemen's Supreme Court, which on November 13 dismissed her appeal and upheld the death sentence, gave her a last option of escaping the gallows by securing a pardon from the victim's family after paying blood money.
"File that portion with an affidavit where the Yemen court while awarding death penalty has given this legal option of paying blood money," Justice Subramonium Prasad said, while listing the matter for Tuesday.
Advocate Subhash Chandran K R, who represented the petitioner, said blood money is a part of the legal system in Yemen as they follow Sharia law and that is why the court there has given this option.
Yemen's Supreme Court had on November 13 dismissed the appeal of Nimisha Priya, who was working as a nurse in the west Asian country, against her sentence.
Priya has been convicted of murdering Talal Abdo Mahdi, who died in July 2017, after she injected him with sedatives in order to get back her passport from his possession.
It was alleged that Priya administered him sedatives so she could take back her passport while he was unconscious but he died of an overdose.
Priya's mother moved the high court earlier this year seeking permission to go to Yemen in spite of a travel ban for Indian nationals and negotiate the blood money to save her daughter.
As the petition also sought permission for Priya's minor daughter to travel to Yemen, the judge said he was not considering the prayer since it is too risky.
"I am not looking at the daughter at all. I am looking at the mother's desperate attempt to save her daughter who can be hanged any time" the judge said.
The counsel appearing for the Centre contended that India does not have diplomatic ties with Yemen and it has closed down its embassy there.
He said it would not be desirable for the mother to visit the foreign nation currently riven by strife and added that earlier the situation in the Middle East region was peaceful but not now.
The petitioner's lawyer had said a letter informing the family about the Supreme Court of Yemen dismissing Priya's appeal was received on December 1 and her execution can take place anytime.
The lawyer said the petitioner was not asking the government to pay blood money and was only seeking permission to travel to Yemen.
The plea sought the court's direction to the Union government to facilitate the travel of the petitioner, Priya's 10-year-old daughter, and two other adult family members to Yemen to try and save her after negotiating with the victim's family.
The 'Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council' had approached the high court last year and sought direction to the Centre to "facilitate diplomatic interventions as well as negotiations with the family of the victim on behalf of Nimisha Priya to save her life by paying blood money in accordance with the law of the land in a time-bound manner".
The petition alleged Mahdi had forged documents to show he and Priya were married and abused and tortured her.
The high court had earlier refused to direct the Centre to negotiate payment of blood money to save Priya's life but asked it to pursue legal remedies against her conviction.
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BJP worker’s 16-year-old son allegedly casts eight votes in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad; Video viral
Lucknow (Farrukhabad): A viral video has surfaced showing a 16-year-old son of a BJP worker allegedly casting eight votes to the saffron party during the ongoing general elections in Uttar Pradesh. The video has sparked controversy, and the opposition has urged for prompt action from the Election Commission of India, reports scroll.in.
The video shared by the Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on micro-blogging site ‘X’, showed the youngster recording himself while casting multiple times in a series of instances. The incident reportedly took place in Khiri Pamaran village, which falls under the Aliganj Assembly constituency within the Farrukhabad parliamentary seat. Mukesh Rajput, the sitting MP, is the BJP candidate in this constituency. Polling in Farrukhabad occurred on May 13 during the fourth phase of the general election.
In the viral video, the youngster is seen casting eight votes in total, all for the BJP, one by one with different clippings.
The youngster in the video has been identified as Rajan Singh Thakur, confirmed his father, Anil Singh Thakur to the Scroll.in. Anil Singh Thakur is the gram pradhan (village head) of Khiri Pamaran and a member of the BJP.
Anil defending his son told the Scroll that the ‘Video misrepresented his son,’ and claimed that the voting was done when the machine was being tested in some instances and other clipping of him voting on behalf of mentally and physically disabled voters was merged and made into a video.
Despite the Anil's caims, the video has drawn significant criticism. Subhash Chandra Prajapati, the additional district magistrate of Farrukhabad, confirmed to the Scroll that the administration will file a case soon. He mentioned that the returning officer is investigating the matter following a directive from the chief electoral officer in Lucknow.
The opposition has been vocal in its criticism, with Akhilesh Yadav demanding action from the Election Commission. In his social media post, Yadav accused the BJP of undermining the electoral process and described the party's booth committee as a "loot committee." The Congress party also called on the Election Commission to take action, in a ‘X’ post the party wrote, “Dear Election Commission…are you watching..a boy is voting 8-8 times ... .at least wake up now.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, took to ‘X’ to express, “Fearing and seeing their defeat, the BJP is attempting to undermine democracy by pressuring government machinery to deny the mandate. The Congress expects all officers performing election duties to remember their constitutional responsibilities despite any pressure from those in power. Otherwise, once the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc government is formed, actions will be taken to ensure that anyone will think ten times before violating their 'Oath to the Constitution'."
Following the video's circulation, Naval Kishor Shakya, the Samajwadi Party candidate in Farrukhabad, filed a complaint with the district election officer. Shakya's complaint alleges that Rajan Singh Thakur cast votes after snatching voter information slips from other voters and that he was assisted by Dinesh Thakur, the local police station's station house officer. Shakya has called for re-polling at the affected polling center.
In a related incident earlier in May, Gujarat Police arrested two BJP workers for allegedly casting bogus votes and live-streaming the act on social media in the Dahod constituency. The Election Commission conducted re-polling at the affected booth following the incident.
The opposition INDIA bloc, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, has repeatedly accused the Election Commission of failing to take prompt action against election model code of conduct violations.
अपनी हार सामने देख कर भाजपा जनादेश को झुठलाने के लिए सरकारी तंत्र पर दबाव बना कर लोकतंत्र को लूटना चाहती है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 19, 2024
कांग्रेस चुनावी ड्यूटी कर रहे सभी अधिकारियों से यह अपेक्षा करती है कि वो सत्ता के दबाव के सामने अपनी संवैधानिक ज़िम्मेदारी न भूलें।
वरना INDIA की सरकार बनते ही ऐसी… https://t.co/fk4wXL8QZy
