Nimisha Priya's execution deferred by Yemen, but deceased's family firm on 'no mercy' stand

As Indian nurse Nimisha Priya’s execution is deferred, the family of the Yemeni man she was convicted of killing has reiterated that they will accept nothing short of her execution.

The hanging, originally scheduled for July 16, has been postponed after the intervention of the Grand Mufti of India, sources in New Delhi confirmed on Tuesday. Priya, a nurse from Kollengode in Kerala’s Palakkad district, was convicted for the 2017 murder of Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi.

According to officials, the Indian government has made sustained efforts in recent weeks to delay the execution in order to give Priya’s family more time to reach a possible reconciliation agreement with the victim’s family.

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In a Facebook post written in Arabic, Talal’s brother, Abdelfattah Mahdi, said the family remains firm in its demand for retribution despite mounting pressure to settle.

“There have always been hidden efforts at mediation. Today’s attempts are not new. But pressure has not changed our stance,” he said, as quoted by Hindustan Times. “Our demand is retribution — nothing else.”

He described the deferment of the execution as “unexpected” but clarified that it does not signal a shift in the family’s position. “Delays won’t soften us. Pressure won’t change us. Blood cannot be bought. Retribution will come — it is only a matter of time, with God’s help.”

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India’s diplomatic push

Priya was sentenced to death by a Yemeni court in 2020 for the murder, and her appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023. She is currently imprisoned in Sana’a, the Yemeni capital controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi forces.

Officials in Delhi said India has extended all possible assistance since the beginning of the case. Her mother, Premakumari, even travelled to Yemen last year to plead for her daughter’s release. Indian authorities also explored the possibility of securing her release through diyat — or blood money — a provision under Yemeni law. However, those efforts have reportedly stalled.