Nimisha Priya’s execution in Yemen ‘completely cancelled’: Reports

Indian nurse Nimisha Priya’s death sentence by Yemeni authorities has been overturned, ANI reported, citing the office of Indian Grand Mufti Kanthapuram AP Abubakker Muslaiyar. However, sources have told WION’s Assistant Editor Foreign Affairs Sidhant Sibal that the reports were “inaccurate”. “Information being shared by certain individuals on the Nimisha Priya case is inaccurate,” said the sources. The 37-year-old was accused of killing a Yemeni citizen. This comes after her execution, which was scheduled on July 16, was temporarily suspended after the intervention of the influential Sunni Muslim leader.

According to a statement issued by the Grand Mufti’s office on Monday (Jul 28), Nimisha Priya’s death sentence has been “completely cancelled”. The decision was made following a high-level meeting held in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.

“The death sentence of Nimisha Priya, which was previously suspended, has been overturned. A high-level meeting held in Sanaa decided to completely cancel the death sentence that was temporarily suspended earlier,” the statement read as quoted by ANI.

A native of Kerala, Nimisha Priya was scheduled to be executed on July 16 after being convicted of killing a Yemeni national, Talal Abdo Mehdi, in June 2018. In November 2023, her death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court of the country.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) earlier on July 17 said that the Indian government was offering all possible assistance in the case. The authorities also provided legal assistance and appointed a lawyer to assist the family.

Nimisha Priya was accused of the crime in 2017 after working for several years as a nurse in Yemen. She ran a clinic in the country with Talal’s support. However, she allegedly faced mental, physical and financial abuse by Talal, who seized her passport. It is claimed that he was killed in self-defence or as an unintended consequence of an attempt to retrieve her passport. Her mother, Prema Kumari, has been in Yemen for the last year, hoping for a pardon.

She was given a death sentence by a trial court in Yemen and upheld by the Supreme Court. Last year, Yemen’s President Rashad al-Alimi also approved her punishment.