Nimisha Priya case: Hope dimming for Indian nurse; Victim's family firm on execution

Hope appears to be dimming for Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who is convicted of murder in Yemen, and is on death row. With her execution that was scheduled for July 16th 2025 being indefinitely postponed by Yemeni authorities, the deceased victim's brother has shared a letter requesting authorities for "speedy implementation of the retaliation sentence against the convict Nimisha Priya(of Indian nationality."

Shared via a social media post, the letter dated August 3rd, Sunday, is written by Abdul Fattah Abdo Mahdi. Abdul Fattah Abdo Mahdi is the brother of the Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi, in whose murder Nimisha Priya is convicted.

Addressed to the Yemeni Attorney General, Judge Abdul Salam Al-Houthi, the letter re-emphasises the victim family's stance of wanting Nimisha Priya to be hanged to death. "More than half a month has passed since that (mid-July) postponement without setting a new date for the implementation, we the heirs of the victim, affirm our full adherence to our legitimate right to implement the retaliation sentence, and categorically reject all attempts at reconciliation or mediation," reads the letter, originally written in Arabic.

Further, the letter also requests the Court to set a new date for implementation of the death sentence. It adds that the death sentence would uphold the right of the (victim family) and deliver justice.

Indian Govt denies Yemen visit for Nimisha Priya's representatives

Following a recent Supreme Court order, a team of India-based individuals as part of the Nimisha Priya International Action Council had formally requested for permission from the Indian Government to travel to Yemen. India has banned its nationals from travelling to Yemen, and such travel can be undertaken only with permission from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs(MEA).

Responding to this, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) pointed out the disturbed security situation in Yemen, and that the Indian Embassy in Yemen has been relocated to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Further, it was mentioned that the MEA is concerned about the Indian delegation's well-being in Yemen, and that India has no formal diplomatic relationship with the present dispensation in Sana'a, Yemen.

"The security situation in Sana'a is tenuous and in recent months, regional developments have made it challenging. Safety of travel is consequently a greater concern. Negotiations on the matter are only between the family of the deceased and Nimisha Priya's family or her family's authorized representatives," read the MEA's response. While the MEA affirmed that it is making all possible efforts in this case, it stated that travel permission to Yemen cannot be granted for the delegation.

About Nimisha Priya and her case

Hailing from a poor family in Kerala's Palakkad district, Nimisha went to Yemen in 2008 and worked as a nurse in a Government-run hospital in Sana'a. Eyeing better earning opportunities, she quit her job and started her own clinic.

Nimisha's India-based lawyer Subhash Chandan maintains that Priya and another woman had started a clinic with Yemeni national Talal, who had later subjected the women to physical and mental abuse, confiscated their passports. In a desperate bid to escape the abuse and flee, it is said that Priya and the Yemeni woman had drugged Talal, which is suspected to have led to his death. The case got further complicated after Talal's mutilated body was found by the authorities in Yemen. Priya was arrested in connection with the murder, while she is said to have made an escape bid from the war-torn country.