Scam exposed: Fake appeals for funds to save Nimisha Priya, MEA cautions public

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Amidst efforts to save the life of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who is facing death sentence in Yemen, a big fraud has now been revealed in her name. A fake bank account number in the name of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been issued on social media and people are being asked for donations worth crores of rupees. Taking cognizance of the matter, the Ministry of External Affairs has called it a fraud and warned the public not to fall into any such trap.

This fake campaign is being run from a Twitter (now X) account of Dr AK Paul, who claims to be a Christian preacher. A poster titled 'Save Nimisha Priya' claims that the Rs 8.3 crore needed to save Nimisha can be deposited directly into the Indian government's bank account. The fake tweet also gives an account number of the State Bank of India (SBI), which is said to be the account of the Ministry of External Affairs.

After the matter escalated, the fact check handle of the Ministry of External Affairs on 'X' clarified, "The appeal on social media to donate to the government's account is completely fake. This is an attempt to extort money from people. The government has not made any such appeal and people do not need to donate in any way."

This fraud is happening at a time when all efforts to get Nimisha Priya pardoned in Yemen seem to be failing. Recently, an Ulema from Kerala also tried to mediate with the family of the deceased Talal Abdo Mehdi through his contacts, but they did not agree to forgive Nimisha. The deceased's brother has written a long post on social media and demanded the Yemen government to give death sentence to Nimisha Priya as soon as possible. He clearly said, "We cannot deal with the blood of our brother."