A native of Kerala, Nimisha Priya, a nurse by profession, moved to Yemen in 2008, where she initially worked in several hospitals before opening her own clinic in the country.
Nimisha Priya, an Indian-origin nurse who is on death row in Yemen, is set to be executed on July 16 after the President of Yemen approved her death sentence. According to media reports, Nimisha Priya, originally a resident of Kerala, India, has been convicted of the murder of a Yemeni national, who was reportedly her business partner.
Who is Nimisha Priya?
A native of Kerala, Nimisha Priya, a nurse by profession, moved to Yemen in 2008, where she initially worked in several hospitals. Years later, she decided to open her own clinic in the Middle Eastern country, but Yemeni law mandates that a non-citizen must partner with a local if they want to start a business.
As such, Nimisha came into contact with the victim, Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni citizen who became her business partner in 2014. However, duo had a fallout after which Mahdi allegedly threatened her. In 2016, Mahdi was arrested following a complaint filed against him by Nimisha, but allegedly continued to threaten her after he was released from jail.
How Nimisha Priya killed Talal Abdo Mahdi?
According to Nimisha’s family, Talal Abdo Mahdi had allegedly confiscated her passport to prevent her from leaving the country, and upon finding an opportunity, the Kerala nurse injected her tormenter with a dose of sedatives to retrieve the same. However, things went awry as Mahdi died from an overdose of sedatives administered by Nimisha.
After the ‘accidental’ murder, the Indian paramedic attempted to flee Yemen but was arrested, tried, and convicted of murder in 2018.
Nimisha Priya was convicted of killing a Yemeni national by a trial court and sentenced to death, and in November 2023, the decision that was upheld by the country’s Supreme Judicial Council.
Death penalty is imposed under Yemeni law for a wide range of offences, such as violating the independence, unity or territorial integrity of the Republic, undertaking an act, to weaken the armed forces, murder, drug trafficking, adultery, consensual same-sex sexual activity between adults, denouncing Islam, and facilitating prostitution.
What happened to ‘blood money’ deal to save Nimisha?
While death penalty is quite common in Yemen, there is however the option of paying ‘blood money’ to the family of the victim in order to absolve the perpetrator, especially in murder cases. This essentially means that the culprit is given the option to a pay a sum to the victim’s family to compensate them, but the amount is always decided by the aggrieved family.
As per a report Manorama online, talks to negotiate the blood money amount with Mahdi’s family abruptly ended in September 2024 after Abdullah Ameer, the lawyer appointed by the Indian Embassy, demanded a pre-negotiation fee of $20,000 (about Rs 16.6 lakh). Nimisha’s mother, who makes a modest living by working as a house help in Kochi, sold her home to help fight for her daughter.
In July 2024, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) provided $19,871 to Ameer, but the lawyer insisted on a total fee of $40,000, payable in two instalments, before resuming talks with the victim’s family, NDTV reported. While Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council successfully raised the first $20000 installment through crowdfunding, it failed to pay the second instalment, reportedly after failing to ensure the transparency of funds raised to the donors.
What is India’s response?
In January this year, the Central government said it was closely monitoring the Nimisha Priya case and all help is being extended to the family. However, Nimisha’s mother had ominously said at the time that “time is running out” for her daughter as she pleaded for help.
“I am deeply grateful to the Indian and Kerala governments, as well as the committee formed to save her, for all the support provided so far. But this is my final plea — please help us save her life. Time is running out,” she pleaded.
