 "Why Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya is on death sentence in Yemen")
Yemen President Rashad al-Alimi has given a nod to the death sentence of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who is lodged at the Central prison in Yemen’s capital Sanaa for allegedly murdering a Yemeni national. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has reacted to the development, saying it is extending “all possible help” to her.
“We are aware of the sentencing of Ms. Nimisha Priya in Yemen. We understand that the family of Ms. Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help in the matter”, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement on Tuesday (December 31).
Our response to media queries regarding the case of Ms. Nimisha Priya:https://t.co/DlviLboqKG pic.twitter.com/tSgBlmitCy
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) December 31, 2024
Let’s take a closer look.
Who is Nimisha Priya?
Nimisha Priya , a 36-year-old nurse, is a native of Palakkad in Kerala. She left for Yemen in 2008, when she was just 19 years old, to help her parents, who were daily-wage labourers, as per The Hindu report.
She worked at a few clinics in the West Asian country.
In 2011, she returned to Kerala to marry Tomy Thomas. The couple then travelled to Yemen, where Thomas started work as an electrician’s assistant for a paltry sum, reported BBC.
After their daughter was born in 2012, the pair struggled to financially survive in Yemen. In 2014, Thomas and the child returned to Kerala’s Kochi.
As per BBC, Priya decided to open her own clinic in 2014. However, as per Yemeni law, she needed a local as a partner. This is where Talal Abdo Mahdi came into the picture and how Priya’s ordeal began.
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More ShortsThe Nimisha Priya case
Mahdi, who ran a textile store, was a regular at the clinic where Nimisha worked. He even came to Kerala in January 2015 to attend the baptism of Priya’s daughter, according to an Indian Express report.
A month later, Priya returned to Yemen. In March of that year, a civil war broke out in the West Asian country, preventing her husband and daughter’s return.
Priya opened her clinic with Mehdi’s help but soon started complaining about him, her husband told BBC.
A plea moved by her mother, Prema Kumari, in the Delhi High Court alleges Mahdi harassed Priya.
As per BBC, the petition states that Mahdi “stole a photograph of Nimisha’s wedding when he visited their home in Kochi and he later manipulated it to claim he was married to Nimisha”.
It claimed “he physically tortured her and took away all the revenue collection from the clinic”, adding that their “relationship deteriorated when Nimisha questioned him about embezzlement of funds”.
According to Priya’s family, she could not leave Yemen as her passport and travel documents were seized by Mahdi. He reportedly stopped her from speaking to her family back home, took control of the clinic and got hold of all her ornaments.
Mahdi “threatened her with a gun" on several occasions. When Priya approached the police in Sanaa, “instead of taking any action against him, they locked her up for six days”, the petition states.
In July 2017, Priya allegedly contacted the warden of a jail near her clinic, who suggested she sedate Mahdi and then get her passport, as per NDTV. However, the dose did not work on him as Mahdi was a substance abuser.
Priya again allegedly tried to sedate Mahdi, with the assistance of her fellow nurse Hannan, but he died due to overdose. The two panicked and chopped Mahdi’s body, later dumping it in a water tank, reported Indian Express.
They were eventually arrested. Priya was nabbed while attempting to flee Yemen.
Thomas, her husband, told BBC last November that she called him from prison a few days after her arrest, with both crying on the call. “She said she had done all this for me and our child. She could have taken the easy way and lived with Mahdi, but she didn’t want to do that. My love and affection for her has grown after this ordeal.”
In 2018, Priya was convicted of murder. She was sentenced to death by a trial court in Sanaa in 2020 and Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council dismissed her appeal in November 2023.
It however gave her the option of paying “blood money” to the victim’s family, which would help her escape the death penalty.
Is ‘blood money’ her last option?
Islamic law allows victims of crimes or their families (in case of murder) to have a say in the punishment of criminals.
As per Indian Express, the family of a murder victim can “forgive” the killer in exchange for monetary compensation. This is known as diyya or “blood money”.
The amount is usually decided between the murderer’s family or representatives and the victim’s family.
Priya’s mother, Prema Kumari, has been in Yemen’s capital since earlier this year to negotiate “blood money” with the victim’s family. She is being assisted by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, an organisation of NRI social workers in Yemen.
However, the talks hit a roadblock in September after Abdullah Ameer, the lawyer appointed by the Indian Embassy, demanded a pre-negotiation fee of $20,000 (about Rs 16.6 lakh), as per Manorama Online.
Samuel Jerome Bhaskaran, a member of the Save Nimisha Priya International Council, told The Hindu from Yemen on Monday (December 30) that Priya’s death penalty can be waived, if the victim’s family pardons her in exchange for blood money.
“The negotiations came to a halt following the release in the delay of the second instalment of the fee asked by the lawyer engaged on behalf of Nimisha Priya to carry out the talks with the family members and tribal leaders,” he said.
#JustIn | MEA said that the Indian govt is offering assistance after Yemen's president approved the execution of Nimisha Priya's death sentence for the murder of her abusive husband
— News18 (@CNNnews18) December 31, 2024
Kaveri Gupta | @siddhantvm explains #yemen #nimishapriya#yemen #nimishapriya #yemennews pic.twitter.com/p1Er0VT33T
The council said the lawyer asked for a total fee of $40,000 (about Rs 34.24 lakh) as the pre-negotiation fee, of which nearly $20,000 was transferred to him through the Indian Embassy in Yemen in July this year.
However, the lawyer put the condition that talks would continue only when he receives the rest of the amount.
The council raised a part of the lawyer’s fee through crowdfunding but they could not ensure transparency about the utilisation of funds.
Now, with the Yemen president approving Priya’s death sentence, time is running out for her family and supporters to secure a pardon for her.
With inputs from agencies
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