Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kerala convicted of murdering Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mehdi, is slated to be executed in Yemen on July 16, though last-minute efforts are underway to negotiate a reprieve.
Nimisha Priya has been incarcerated in Yemen for over three years following her conviction for the murder of Yemeni citizen Talal Abdo Mehdi in 2018. The news of her scheduled execution emerged on Tuesday, sparking new diplomatic efforts to save her life.
S.J. Bhaskaran, a negotiator, is preparing for an urgent trip to Yemen in a bid to intervene. Priya’s husband, Tomy Thomas, and their daughter remain optimistic about negotiating a payment of diya, or blood money, with Mehdi’s family, which is a legal avenue under Yemeni law to avert the execution. However, the victim’s family has yet to accept the proposal.
Priya, originally from Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, relocated to Yemen in 2008 to support her parents, who worked as daily wage laborers. She initially worked in several hospitals before eventually establishing her own clinic.
In 2017, a confrontation with her Yemeni business partner, Talal Abdo Mehdi, led to a tragic turn of events. According to her family, Priya injected Mehdi with sedatives hoping to retrieve her passport, reportedly confiscated by Mehdi. The sedative allegedly caused an overdose, resulting in his death.
Priya was apprehended while attempting to leave Yemen and was subsequently convicted of murder. In 2020, a trial court in Sanaa sentenced her to death, a verdict upheld by Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023. However, the court indicated that a resolution through blood money remains a possibility.
The case has garnered significant attention in India and among the Indian diaspora, raising concerns about the treatment and legal challenges faced by Indian nationals abroad. Priya’s mother, Prema Kumari, 57, has actively campaigned to save her daughter’s life, even traveling to Sanaa to plead with Mehdi’s family for clemency.
Support has also come from the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, consisting of non-resident Indian social workers in Yemen, who are advocating for a diplomatic and humanitarian solution.
With the execution date looming, efforts are intensifying to broker a last-minute agreement that could potentially spare Priya’s life.
According to IANS, the situation remains precarious with less than a week to find a solution.
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