Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya to be executed on July 16 for murdering Yemeni national

Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, who was jailed for killing a Yemeni national, will be executed on July 16, according to a report, citing a social activist.

According to a News 18 report, citing Kerala-based news outlet Onmanorama, human rights activist Samuel Jerome, who holds the power of attorney of Nimisha Priya’s mother, Prema Kumari, said that prison authorities of Yemen have informed him about the date of her execution.

Priya was arrested in 2017 for the alleged murder of her business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi. In 2020, a Yemeni court sentenced her to death in connection with the case.

“We have been closely following the matter since then. We have been in regular touch with local authorities and her family members and rendered all possible assistance. We continue to closely follow the matter," News 18 quoted sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as saying.

Priya, a native of Kerala’s Palakkad district, moved to Yemen in 2011 after completing her nursing training, hoping to support her parents, who worked as daily wage labourers.

She initially worked tirelessly across several hospitals before deciding to open her own clinic—a long-held dream. In 2014, she met Talal Abdo Mahdi, who offered to help her set up the clinic. Under Yemeni business law, foreign nationals are required to partner with a local to start a business, and the two entered into a partnership.

In 2015, Priya and Mahdi launched the clinic in Sana’a. However, their relationship quickly soured. Priya accused Mahdi of abuse and physical torture, claiming he confiscated her passport to prevent her from leaving Yemen. She lodged a police complaint, which led to his arrest in 2016, though he was later released.

In 2017, tensions escalated. Determined to recover her passport and return to India, Priya sought help from a local jail warden, who allegedly advised her to use sedatives to subdue Mahdi. Acting on the suggestion, she injected him with sedatives. Mahdi died of an overdose, leading to her arrest and subsequent murder charge.

In the same year, a Yemeni trial court sentenced Priya to death. Her mother, Prema Kumari, later appealed the verdict to Yemen’s Supreme Court, but the appeal was rejected in 2023. President Rashad al-Alimi also signed off on the execution order, upholding the sentence.

With inputs from agencies