Nimisha Priya, Kerala nurse convicted in Yemen, to be executed July 16
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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, convicted of the 2017 murder of Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mehdi, is scheduled to be executed on July 16, following three years in a Yemeni prison.
Negotiator S J Bhaskaran has announced his immediate departure to Yemen, following confirmation of the execution date on Tuesday.
Priya’s husband, Tomy Thomas, and their daughter are hopeful that the victim’s family can still be persuaded to accept diyah—or blood money—in exchange for sparing her life. However, Mehdi’s family has so far not responded favourably to the offer.
Originally from Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, Priya moved to Yemen in 2008 to support her parents, who worked as daily wage labourers. After gaining experience in various hospitals, she established her own clinic.
In 2017, a reported dispute with her business partner, Mehdi, escalated fatally.
According to Priya’s family, she administered sedatives to recover her confiscated passport, but an overdose led to Mehdi’s death. She was apprehended while trying to leave the country and was convicted of murder in 2018.
The trial court in Sanaa sentenced her to death in 2020. Although Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council upheld the verdict in November 2023, it left room for clemency through compensation.
The case has sparked widespread concern about the safety of Indian nationals abroad.
Priya’s mother, 57-year-old Prema Kumari, has launched a relentless campaign seeking a waiver of the death sentence. She recently travelled to Sanaa in a final effort to negotiate with the victim’s family.
Her campaign is being supported by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, a coalition of NRI social workers based in Yemen.
(inputs from IANS)
