India, in a statement on Tuesday, has confirmed extending all-possible assistance to Nimisha Priya— a nurse who hails from Kerala has been given a death sentence in Yemen.
Yemen President Rashad al-Alimi has signed off on the death sentence for Indian nurse Priya, 36, who has been serving a prison sentence since 2017 for the murder of a Yemeni national.
As per media reports, the sentence will be executed in a month's time.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in the statement: “We understand that the family of Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help in the matter.”
The Yemeni President’s decision has taken Nimisha Priya's family in Kerala by surprise who have been making efforts to save her.
It has been learnt that Priya’s mother Prema Kumari reached Yemen's capital, Sana'a, earlier this year. She has been staying there to secure a waiver of the death penalty and also trying to negotiate with the family of the man her daughter killed.
What is the case?
Nimisha Priya was found guilty of killing Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national, in 2017.
A year later, she was sentenced to death by a trial court in Yemen.
Her family approached the Yemini Supreme Court against the trial court's order, but their appeal was rejected in 2023.
Now, since the country's President has also rejected Priya's appeal, Priya’s release depends on securing the forgiveness of the victim's family.
As per reports, Priya’s mother has been trying to negotiate blood money with the victim's family, but talks came to an abrupt halt in September after Abdullah Ameer, the lawyer appointed by the Indian Embassy, demanded a pre-negotiation fee of $20,000 (approximately ₹16.6 lakh).
The Indian foreign ministry had already provided $19,871 to Ameer in July, but he insisted on a total fee of $40,000, payable in two installments, before he would resume talks.
Who is Nimisha Priya?
Nimisha Priya lives in Kerala’s Palakkad. She is a trained nurse who worked in private hospitals in Yemen for a few years.
In 2014, her husband and daughter returned to India because of financial reasons. The same year, Yemen was gripped by civil war, and they could not go back, as the country stopped issuing new visas.
Later in 2015, Priya sought Mahdi's support to set up her clinic in Sana'a, as under Yemen's law, only citizens are allowed to set up clinics and business firms.
As per her appeal in Yemani Supreme Court in 2015, Mahdi accompanied Priya to Kerala for a holiday.
During the visit, he stole her wedding photograph, which he manipulated to claim that he was married to her.
Upon their return, when Priya started the clinic, Mahadi started cornering all the revenue.
He also began to take money out of her monthly earnings after telling everyone that Priya was his wife.
In her plea, Priya alleged that soon the harassment turned into physical torture and Mahdi also seized her passport.
According to her plea, Priya even approached the police in Sanaa, but instead of taking action against Mahdi, the police arrested her and put her in jail for nearly a week.
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