A voice message from Nimisha Priya (34), the Kerala nurse who is on a death row in Sanaa, Yemen, saying she received a call from a counsel on the date of execution has further stoked apprehensions over her case. Nimisha Priya has been awarded the death penalty for the murder of Tala Abdul Mahdi.

Jayan Edappal, convenor of the Save Nimisha Priya Action Council, received a voice message from Nimisha Priya on Friday night notifying him of a call she received from a woman counsel. "She contacted the main office and they patched the call to me. She said that the date of execution has been fixed and the order has reached the prison authorities," she said in the audio message.

A perceptibly disturbed Nimisha Priya is heard asking if it could be true, and whether she will be executed after Ramadan. Subhash Chandra, a lawyer and member of the Save Nimisha Priya Action Council said that she occasionally contacts them to pass information via a phone provided by the jail authorities. He said that the message was verified, but they haven't been able to contact her for further information. "There has been no official confirmation yet. We have tried to contact her back, but her phone access is limited to a stipulated period," said Chandra.

Nimisha Priya also says in the clip that the counsel who called her was different from another lawyer she had met earlier. Chandra said that many lawyers contact Nimisha Priya regarding the case. Samuel Jerome, a human rights activist who holds the power of attorney of Nimisha Priya's mother Prema Kumari said that there is no confirmation regarding the date of execution. "I spoke to the lawyer concerned and was told that the court has been shut down as part of Ramzan," he said. Jerome added that he hasn't spoken to Nimisha Priya regarding the phone call.

Uncertainty has loomed over the negotiation attempts to free Nimisha Priya after Mahdi al-Mashat, the President of the rebel Houthis' Supreme Political Council, recently ratified her death sentence. When the matter was raised in the parliament by Kerala MP John Brittas, Kirti Vardhan Singh, the Minister of State for External Affairs reiterated that it was a matter that needed to be settled between families.