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Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya's execution in Yemen postponed
Citing government sources, media reports have claimed that the execution of the Kerala native, which was set for July 16, has now been postponed.
The execution of Nimisha Priya, an Indian on death row in Yemen for murdering a Yemeni national, has been postponed, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Priya's death sentence was set to be carried out on July 16. “It has been learnt that the local authorities in Yemen have postponed the execution,” one of the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.
The Indian government made concerted efforts in recent days to seek more time for Priya’s family to reach a “mutually agreeable solution with the other party”, the people said without giving details.
Indian officials have focused on efforts to prevent the execution through the Islamic tradition of “diyat”, or paying “blood money” to the victim’s family.
“Despite the sensitivities involved, Indian officials have been in regular touch with the local jail authorities and the prosecutor’s office, leading to securing this postponement,” the person said.
Priya is in a jail in Sana’a, which is under the control of Houthi rebels. India doesn’t have a diplomatic presence in Yemen and the matter is being handled by diplomats in the mission in Saudi Arabia.
The case has run into complications as the Indian side has no formal contacts with the Houthi rebels, and because efforts to secure Priya’s release by paying blood money ran into problems.
Priya was arrested in July 2017 for murdering a Yemeni man who was her business partner. She was sentenced to death by a Yemeni court in 2020 and the Supreme Judicial Council dismissed Priya’s appeal in November 2023.
The government had said earlier in Parliament that it is providing all assistance to the family of Priya.
Priya’s mother Premakumari travelled to Yemen last year to take up the negotiations for paying the blood money. She is being assisted in these efforts by a group of non-resident Indians in Yemen.
This development comes a day after the Central government told the Supreme Court of India that there was “nothing much it could do” regarding the execution of the Kerala nurse.
"There is a point till which the Government of India can go. We have reached that,” the counsel for the government of India told the apex court on Monday.
Who is Nimisha Priya?
Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse from Kollengode in Kerala's Palakkad district, was placed on the death row in Yemen. The 38-year-old was convicted in 2020 for allegedly murdering a Yemeni national in 2017.
Priya moved to Yemen in 2011 to work as a nurse with her husband and daughter. However, while her family returned to India, she stayed on in Sana'a.
During her stay, she partnered with a Yemeni national, Talal Abdo Mahdi, to open a clinic. However, as per the nurse, Mahdi forged documents to claim a marriage with her and subjected her to physical, emotional and financial abuse.
She told Yemeni authorities that Mahdi withheld her passports and often drugged her. In 2020, she was convicted and sentenced to death by a Yemeni court.
The Houthis' Supreme Judicial Council upheld the punishment in November 2023.
