Yemeni Authorities Postpone Execution of Kerala Nurse Nimisha Priya

Yemeni authorities have postponed the execution of Indian national Nimisha Priya, which was scheduled for Tuesday, July 16, according to official sources.

Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kerala’s Palakkad district, has been sentenced to death for the murder of her Yemeni business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi. Under Yemeni law, foreign medical professionals must partner with a local citizen to open a clinic. Priya has alleged that Mahdi subjected her to torture, financial exploitation, and threats, and that he also forged documents to falsely claim he was married to her.

Nimisha Priya, currently imprisoned in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, was sentenced to death in 2020. Her final appeal against the sentence was rejected in 2023.

According to official sources, the Government of India (GoI), which has been extending all possible support since the outset of the case, intensified its efforts in recent days to secure more time for Priya’s family to explore a mutually acceptable resolution with the victim’s family.

Sources added that Indian officials managed to obtain a postponement of the execution “despite the sensitivities involved,” and have been in constant communication with local prison authorities and the prosecutor’s office.

India does not officially recognise the Houthi regime, which controls much of northwestern Yemen, including the capital Sana’a, adding diplomatic complexity to the case.

As part of last-minute efforts to save Nimisha Priya, prominent Sunni Muslim leader Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar reached out to religious authorities in Yemen, according to a PTI report.

A crucial meeting is believed to have taken place in Dhamar on Monday, involving representatives of Musliyar, Sufi cleric Sheikh Habib Umar bin Hafiz, and the family of Talal Abdo Mahdi, the Yemeni man allegedly murdered by Nimisha Priya in 2017.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India recently heard a petition seeking to halt Priya’s execution. During the hearing, Attorney General R. Venkataramani informed the court that the Indian government was doing everything within its power to save her life. However, he noted that in Yemen, payment of blood money, a form of legal compensation to the victim’s family, is considered a private matter and not subject to diplomatic negotiation, highlighting the limits of the government's role.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has extended his support to efforts aimed at securing Nimisha Priya’s release and wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urging intervention.

Alo Read: “She Doesn’t Deserve to Die”: Venugopal Pleads for Nimisha Priya’s Life