Middle Eastern country set to execute Indian nurse 

New Delhi has said it is “extending all help” after Yemen’s president approved the death sentence for a woman convicted of murder

Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi on Monday signed off on the death sentence for an Indian nurse convicted of murder, after a last ditch blood money offer to avert her death fell through.

The sentence is set to be carried out within a month.

Nimisha Priya, 36, from Palakkad in the southern state of Kerala in India, worked as a nurse in Yemen from 2009. She was convicted of murdering Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national who was also her business partner, in 2017.

Priya was awaiting a pardon from the victim’s family in exchange for ‘diya’, or blood money – compensation for a death under Islamic law. She was arrested while attempting to flee the country and convicted in 2018. In 2020, a court in Sanaa sentenced her to death. Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council rejected her appeal in November 2023, but left open the option of paying diya.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday stated that it is aware of Priya’s sentencing. “We understand that the family of Ms. Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help in the matter.”

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Priya worked at several hospitals in Yemen, and later opened her own clinic with the help of Mahdi. In 2017, she had a dispute with him, which ended in the killing. Priya’s family claimed the feud stemmed from her opposition to his alleged attempts at embezzling funds. 

The family had hoped to save Priya by persuading the victim’s family to accept blood money. A worldwide group of Malayalis (natives of Kerala state) have formed a Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council (SNPIAC) in an attempt to bring her home. In June, the group completed the collection of $40,000 required for a pre-negotiation with Yemeni clan chiefs.

“We worked tirelessly to save Nimisha Priya’s life, but our efforts ended in vain,” a member of the Kerala legislative assembly, K Babu, told New Indian Express newspaper.

The negotiations reportedly reached a dead end in September when the lawyer engaged by the Indian Embassy demanded more funds, part of which were raised by the Action council. Babu added that despite the involvement of the government and the embassy, “decisions related to executions are often influenced by certain ethnic groups.”