Nimisha Priya, the Indian woman listed for execution in Yemen on July 16 in a murder case, was among hundreds of nurses from Kerala who make their way to countries in the Gulf region every year for jobs.
Priya, 37, from Palakkad district, was one of those nurses until her life took a dark turn and she ended up on death row in a murder case. That, too, in a region of Yemen ruled by a group that India does not have formal diplomatic ties with – the Houthis.
Also read: Hectic efforts on to prevent execution of Indian nurse
She is currently in jail in the capital city of Sana'a, which is also under Houthi control. The Supreme Judicial Council of the Houthi administration – different from the Yemeni regime of Rashad al-Alimi that has near-global recognition – upheld her death sentence in 2024.
Whom did she kill and why?
Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national, had reportedly held on to her passport. This made her return to India difficult, effectively forcing her to keep on working at the same place as partnering with a local was a legal requirement to open a clinic.
{{/usCountry}}Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national, had reportedly held on to her passport. This made her return to India difficult, effectively forcing her to keep on working at the same place as partnering with a local was a legal requirement to open a clinic.
{{/usCountry}}Convicted of murder in July 2017, Priya had originally planned to sedate Talal with some drugs, but the dose became lethal. The intent was to knock him unconscious and get the passport. But Mahdi died of overdose.
Her colleague, a Yemeni national identified as Hanan, helped her dismember Mahdi’s body and dispose of it in a water tank.
How did she end up in Yemen?
Priya had moved to Yemen in 2008 to work as a nurse there. She got married in 2011 to an Indian man, but her husband and daughter had to return to India in 2014 due to financial challenges.
Yemen was in a flux during this whole time. The year 2011 was the year of the Arab Spring, in which several countries in the region saw protests against long-time rulers. Yemen has a history of redrawing of borders, and a protracted civil war.
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The year that Priya moved there was a transition of power towards possible peace. In November 2011, the then president Ali Abdullah Saleh handed over power to his deputy. But the transition did not stop conflict.
In 2014, the rebel group Houthis took control of Sana'a.
The conflict prevented Priya's husband and child from returning, while she remained stuck there.
She partnered with Mahdi to open a clinic, but he allegedly manipulated documents to claim that he was married to her, and Priya alleged that he subjected her to physical and emotional abuse. According to Priya, Mahdi confiscated her passport, demanded money from her clinic, and used drugs to control her.
That's when she sought the help of a local jail warden and used sedatives on Mahdi, which led to an overdose.
'India working to stop execution'
Samuel Jerome Baskaran, a social worker who is negotiating with government officials in Yemen and Talal's family, confirmed that a letter was issued by the public prosecutor to the jail authorities for the execution, The Indian Express reported.
Baskaran, however, added that the Indian government could still intervene to save her life.
The government is in regular contact with the local authorities and Priya's family members, sources told news agency ANI. “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,” the sources said.
‘Blood money’ option not working out yet
The case has been complicated as the Indian side has no formal diplomatic contacts with the Houthi rebels. Efforts to secure Priya’s release through the Islamic tradition of “diyat”, or paying “blood money” to the victim’s family, ran into complications, sources told HT.
Priya’s mother Premakumari travelled to Yemen last year to take up negotiations for payment of blood money, HT has reported. She is being assisted in these efforts by a group of non-resident Indians in Yemen.