Yemen’s President Rashad al-Alimi has approved the death sentence for Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who has been imprisoned since 2017 for the murder of a Yemeni national. According to media reports, the sentence will be executed on July 16.
Reacting to the development, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier stated that it is aware of the sentencing. “We understand that the family of Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help in the matter,” MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Family’s Efforts to Save Nimisha Priya
The Yemeni President’s decision had come as a shock to Priya’s family in India, who have been fighting for her release. Her mother, Prema Kumari, traveled to Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, earlier this year to negotiate a waiver of the death penalty by securing forgiveness from the victim’s family and tribal leaders through payment of blood money.
ALSO READ: ‘My Ola driver is an Olympian’: Entrepreneur takes cab, his cabbie turns out to be Olympian
However, negotiations faced hurdles in September after Abdullah Ameer, the lawyer appointed by the Indian Embassy, demanded a pre-negotiation fee of $20,000 (approximately Rs 16.6 lakh). The MEA had already provided $19,871 to Ameer in July, but he insisted on a total fee of $40,000 before resuming talks. While the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council raised the first installment of Ameer’s fee through crowdfunding, they later encountered challenges in maintaining transparency with donors regarding fund usage.
Why Nimisha Priya will be executed in Yemen
Nimisha Priya, a trained nurse from Palakkad, Kerala, was found guilty of killing Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national, in 2017. A trial court sentenced her to death in 2018, and subsequent appeals to the Yemeni Supreme Court were rejected in 2023. With the President’s decision, her release now depends entirely on obtaining forgiveness from the victim’s family.
Priya had been working in private hospitals in Yemen since 2014. Her husband and minor daughter returned to India due to financial constraints, and the ongoing civil war in Yemen prevented them from reuniting. In 2015, Priya sought Mahdi’s assistance to set up a clinic, as Yemeni law allowed only nationals to establish businesses.
According to Priya’s plea, Mahdi later manipulated the clinic’s ownership documents, embezzled its revenue, and claimed to be her husband using morphed photographs. When Priya confronted him, Mahdi allegedly became hostile and seized her passport, subjecting her to harassment and physical torture. Priya’s attempts to report Mahdi to the local police resulted in her being jailed for six days.
In July 2017, on the advice of a prison warden, Priya attempted to sedate Mahdi to retrieve her passport. However, Mahdi, a substance abuser, died of a drug overdose during the second sedation attempt. Priya was subsequently charged with his murder.
