Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya can still be saved by..., What is blood money in Islamic law, is it different for Muslims and Hindus?

Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, who is set to be executed on July 16 in Yemen, can still be saved. The Union government has informed the Supreme Court that, with limited diplomatic leverage available, only blood money can save the Indian woman. She has been languishing in a prison in a Middle Eastern country for killing a native since 2017. Nimisha Priya has been accused of killing her business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, with whom she entered into a business arrangement for opening a clinic in the capital, Sanaa. Mahdi allegedly usurped all the money of the clinic, assaulted Nimisha, forged her papers and falsely showed her as his wife. In a bid to regain her documents and escape his torture, Nimisha tried to sedate Mahdi, but he died of an overdose.  

What are "qisas" and "diyat"?

Islamic Laws have the provisions of "qisas" and "diyat". The word "qisas" has been derived from its root verb qassa, which means “he followed”. It means retaliation. According to Tahir Wasti's book "The Application of Islamic Criminal Law in Pakistan: Sharia in Practice", the Arabs would penalise a murderer with death. Their retaliation had no limits depending on the strength or weakness of their tribe. 

Why blood money?

However, in alternative to "qisas" is "diyat", which means compensation or blood money. In Islamic law, "diyat" is financial compensation paid to the victim or their family in cases of murder, bodily harm, or property damage. It aims to promote forgiveness and reconciliation while providing reparative justice. The amount of money is determined mutually through negotiation between the families of the victim and the offender. Some countries have established a minimum amount. However, the state and the community have the power to impose some additional punishment besides the blood money. 

Secondly, the blood money can be given only in cases of unintentional murder, culpable homicide, or when the victim's family chooses to forgo qisas or retaliation. The case of Nimisha Priya is a little bit more complicated as she is a Hindu, and the diyat is not the same for non-Muslims and Muslims in sharia courts. In cases of unintentional crimes, Muslims and non-Muslims are treated differently.