Yemen puts off Kerala nurse’s execution

The execution of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya in Yemen has been postponed. She is on death row for the murder of a Yemeni national and was earlier scheduled to be executed on July 16.

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Sources said the Yemeni authorities had postponed the execution for now. They said the Indian Government, which had since the beginning of the case been rendering all possible assistance in the matter, had made concerted efforts in recent days to seek more time for Nimisha’s family to reach a mutually agreeable solution with the other party.

“Despite the sensitivities involved, Indian officials have been in regular touch with the jail authorities and the prosecutor’s office, leading to securing this postponement,” the sources said.

Nimisha hails from Kollengode town in Kerala’s Palakkad. Her death sentence was approved by the Yemen president on December 30 last year.

Nimisha is married and has a girl child. She moved to Yemen in 2011 where she met Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi. Her husband and minor daughter returned to India in 2014 due to financial reasons.

The same year, Yemen was engulfed in a civil war, and the father-daughter duo could not go back as the country stopped issuing new visas.

Later, Mahdi is said to have helped Nimisha set up a clinic in Yemen’s capital Sanaa. The country’s law states that foreigners can only start their business in the country if they have got local partners.

In 2017, Nimisha was found guilty of murdering Mahdi, which, she claimed, was an act of self-defence. Nimisha alleged that Mahdi had been harassing her for money and also seized her passport.

She also alleged that he forged her documents and claimed to be her husband while subjecting her to physical and emotional abuse.

In 2018, she was sentenced to death by a trial court in Yemen. Since then, her family members have been fighting for her release. They approached the Yemini Supreme Court against the trial court’s order, but their appeal was rejected in 2023. The Yemen president also rejected Nimisha’s appeal. Her release now depends on securing the forgiveness of the victim’s family and their tribal leaders.

There have been vociferous attempts to save Nimisha. Her family and advocacy groups within the country have been working to save her life. Her mother, Prema Kumari, has been in Sanaa to negotiate with Mahdi’s family to secure forgiveness in exchange for “blood money”.

As per Yemen law, the death penalty can only be nullified if the victim’s family agrees to pardon the culprit, often in exchange for blood money.