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The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Yemen postpones execution of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya on death row
The execution of an Indian nurse who is on death row in Yemen has been postponed at the eleventh hour amid negotiations for a pardon. Nimisha Priya, 38, from the southern Indian state of Kerala, was found guilty of murdering her business partner in 2017 and was sentenced to death in 2020. Priya has denied killing Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national who co-owned a clinic with her in Sanaa and whose chopped-up remains were found in a water tank. The Indian foreign ministry sources said the government "made concerted efforts in recent days to seek more time for the family of Ms Nimisha Priya to reach a mutually agreeable solution with the other party'. The ministry's officials had been in regular contact with Yemeni jail authorities and the prosecutor's office there. The postponement of the sentencing is only a temporary relief for Priya, as only a pardon by the victim's family can save her from the imminent execution. According to Yemen's Islamic judicial system, murder, drug trafficking, apostasy, adultery, and same-sex relations are punished by death and it allows a murder convict to be pardoned by the victim's kin in exchange for diyat, or 'blood money '. Her family in India has said they have already raised $1m (£735,000) and offered the money to Mahdi's family, which is reluctant to pardon her. Samuel Jerome Baskaran, a social worker who has been negotiating on behalf of the nurse with Yemeni officials and the victim's family, said the postponement came after the ruler of the Al Wasab region met the president of Yemen on Friday on his request while the Indian government also got involved, according to The Indian Express. He said a plea from Priya's mother, Prema Kumari, requesting a postponement, was formally submitted. On Saturday, the president of Yemen Rashad al-Alimi consented to defer the execution, he said, adding that a directive not to disclose further details about the case or the postponement, possibly was issued due to its sensitivity. 'The final step (to stop the execution) is the consent from the Talal family. The key to Nimisha's life rests with the family of Talal. They have to forgive her, and our job is to convince the family to forgive her,' he said. Mahdi's family have said they only want to implement God's Law in Qisas, which means retaliation in kind and said they have suffered from the brutal crime. His brother, Abdelfattah Mahdi, told BBC Arabic that they have suffered at the hands of the exhausting litigation process and called it a 'horrible and heinous' crime case. "Any dispute, whatever its reasons and however big, can never justify a murder – let alone dismembering, mutilating and hiding the body." Priya arrived in Yemen to work as a nurse in 2008. She launched a clinic in partnership with Mehdi, in line with Yemeni law that required foreign entrepreneurs to collaborate with citizens. However, she was arrested in 2017 after Mahdi was murdered and his body was found in a tank. Her family previously alleged that Priya faced mental, physical and financial abuse at his hands. She had even filed a police complaint against him in 2016, leading to his brief arrest. He allegedly resumed threatening her after getting out. In 2020, a local court sentenced her to death. The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court but the appeal was rejected in 2023. The nurse's mother, a domestic worker in Kochi city, has been in Yemen for the past year trying to save her daughter.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Nimisha Priya execution postponed: Council confirms progress in talks with victim's family
Samuel Jerome Baskaran, a member of the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council who has been based in Yemen since 1999 and co-ordinating the efforts to secure the release of Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya, told The Hindu on Tuesday (July 15, 2025) that the public prosecutor's office will not issue such an order without seeking the consent of the victim's family, he said. The execution of Nimisha Priya that was scheduled to be carried out on Wednesday (July 16, 2025) in Yemen has been postponed, official sources had said earlier. Mr. Samuel said the public prosecutor will act according to the directive issued by the office of Mahdi al-Mashat, president of Supreme Political Council of Houthis. He said that a prominent sheikh having links to the victim's family had intervened to halt the execution for now. Family relieved Tomy Thomas, husband of Nimisha, said he was happy to hear about the news of her execution being halted. He thanked the Centre, Kerala government and 'all those who had worked together to save her from the gallows.' Subhash Chandran K. R, Supreme Court lawyer and member of Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, said that her execution has been halted.
The Independent
09-07-2025
- The Independent
Indian nurse convicted of killing business partner to be executed in Yemen on 16 July, says negotiator
An Indian nurse convicted of murdering her Yemeni business partner is slated to be executed on 16 July, according to a negotiator involved in last-ditch efforts to save her life. Nimisha Priya, 38, from the southern Indian state of Kerala, was sentenced to death in 2020 for the killing of Talal Abdo Mehdi, a Yemeni national who co-owned a clinic with her in Sanaa. The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Judicial Council in 2023. Priya has been lodged in a prison in Sanaa since her arrest in 2017. She was convicted of injecting Mr Mehdi with sedatives in a bid to retrieve her passport, which he had allegedly confiscated. The dose proved fatal. Yemeni law punishes murder by death, as it does drug trafficking, apostasy, adultery, and same-sex relations. The Arab nation, however, allows a murder convict to be pardoned by the victim's kin in exchange for diyat, or 'blood money'. Samuel Jerome Baskaran, a social worker who has been negotiating on behalf of the nurse with Yemeni officials and the victim's family, confirmed the imminent execution. 'The public prosecutor had issued the letter of prosecution to the jail authorities. The execution is scheduled for July 16. Options are still open. The government of India can intervene in the matter to save her life,' he was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. He was returning to Yemen to resume the negotiations after a prior offer to the victim's family went unanswered. 'We had made an offer to the family during the last meeting. So far, they have not responded,' Mr Baskaran said. Priya moved to Yemen in 2008 and eventually launched a clinic in partnership with Mr Mehdi, in line with Yemeni law that required foreign entrepreneurs to collaborate with citizens. Her family previously alleged that Priya faced mental, physical and financial abuse at his hands. She had even filed a police complaint against him in 2016, leading to his brief arrest. He allegedly resumed threatening her after getting out. India's foreign ministry said it had been tracking the case closely since Priya's conviction in 2018. 'We have been in regular touch with local authorities and her family members and rendered all possible assistance,' a source was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India. The ministry continues to explore options for intervention despite limited diplomatic engagement with the Houthis, who rule most of Yemen. The nurse's mother, Prema Kumari, a domestic worker in Kochi city, has been in Yemen for the past year trying to save her daughter. In December, she moved the Delhi High Court for exemption from the Indian travel advisory barring citizens from visiting the conflict-ridden Yemen. She has visited her daughter several times in prison. In an emotional appeal earlier this year, Ms Kumari said: 'I am deeply grateful to the Indian and Kerala governments, as well as the committee formed to save her, for all the support provided so far. But this is my final plea – please help us save her life. Time is running out.' Priya is the latest Indian citizen facing the death penalty in the Gulf. At least three Indians were executed in the UAE earlier this year.
