Indian nurse Nimisha Priya to be executed in Yemen on July 16 for murder

Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, convicted of killing her Yemeni partner in 2017 after alleged abuse, is set to be executed on July 16

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Nimisha Priya, a 37-year-old Indian nurse from Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, will be executed in Yemen on July 16. She was convicted of killing a Yemeni citizen in 2017. Last year, Yemen’s President approved her death sentence. 

Priya has been imprisoned in Sana’a, the Yemeni capital, which is currently under the control of the Houthi administration — a regime India does not have diplomatic ties with.

 

Nimisha Priya death sentence: The case

Priya first moved to Yemen in 2011 to work as a nurse in Yemen’s capital city Sanaa. In 2014, her husband and daughter returned to India due to growing civil unrest and financial troubles, while she remained in Yemen to continue working and support her family.

Later, she partnered with a local man, Talal Abdo Mahdi, to open a clinic — a requirement in Yemen for foreign medical professionals. However, things took a dark turn when Mahdi allegedly forged marriage documents and began abusing her.   

Priya claimed Mahdi physically abused her, exploited her financially, and kept her under constant threat. She also said he drugged her and held her passport, preventing her from leaving the country. Despite filing complaints with local authorities, she reportedly received no help. 

In 2017, Nimisha Priya allegedly tried to sedate Mahdi in order to retrieve her passport and escape Yemen. However, the dose proved fatal. Following Mahdi’s death, Priya, along with a local woman named Hanan, dismembered the body and disposed of it in a water tank. She was arrested while attempting to flee the country and convicted of murder in 2018. 

In 2020, a Yemeni court sentenced her to death. That sentence was upheld in November 2023 by the Supreme Judicial Council under Houthi control.

 

Efforts to save her life

Since the conviction, efforts have been underway to save Priya. Her mother, Premakumari, travelled to Yemen in 2023 to seek a solution. Indian authorities also explored the option of paying diyat, or blood money, to the victim’s family. Under Islamic law, the death penalty can be lifted if the family agrees to pardon the offender in exchange for compensation. 

However, negotiations to secure Nimisha Priya’s release faced complications. In September 2023, Abdullah Ameer, a lawyer appointed by the Indian Embassy, demanded a pre-negotiation fee of $20,000, which was later raised to $40,000. The ‘Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council’ raised part of this amount through crowdfunding and paid the initial $20,000. However, disputes over the transparency of fund usage caused further delays.