Indian Nurse Nimisha Priya Faces Death Sentence in Yemen: A Race Against Time

Sanaa, Yemen, July 10, 2025 – Nimisha Priya, a 37-year-old nurse from Kerala, India, is facing execution in Yemen on July 16, 2025, for the 2017 murder of her Yemeni business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi. Her case has sparked international attention, with efforts underway to save her life through diplomatic intervention and the payment of “blood money” under Yemen’s Sharia law. As the execution date approaches, her family and supporters are making a desperate plea for clemency.

Who is Nimisha Priya?

Nimisha Priya was born in 1989 in Kollengode, Palakkad district, Kerala, to daily-wage laborers. Determined to lift her family out of poverty, she trained as a nurse with financial support from a local church. Unable to work as a nurse in Kerala due to incomplete school qualifications, she moved to Yemen in 2008 to pursue better job opportunities. Priya worked in several hospitals in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, before aiming to start her own clinic in 2014.

In 2011, she married Tomy Thomas in Kerala and returned to Yemen with him. Their daughter was born in 2012, but financial struggles and Yemen’s civil war forced her husband and daughter to return to India in 2014. Priya remained in Yemen, working to support her family.

Why is She Facing a Death Sentence?

In 2014, Priya partnered with Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national, to open a clinic, as Yemeni law requires foreign nationals to have a local business partner. The partnership soured when Mahdi allegedly withheld earnings, forged documents to claim he was married to Priya, and subjected her to physical and emotional abuse, including seizing her passport. In July 2017, Priya attempted to retrieve her passport by sedating Mahdi with an injection. The dose was fatal, leading to his death.

Priya, with the help of a colleague named Hanan, allegedly dismembered Mahdi’s body and disposed of it in a water tank. She was arrested near the Saudi border in August 2017. In 2018, a Yemeni court convicted her of murder, sentencing her to death. Her appeal was rejected by Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023, though the court left open the option of paying “blood money” (diya) to secure a pardon from Mahdi’s family. In December 2024, Yemen’s President Rashad al-Alimi approved her execution, escalating the urgency of her case.

Current Status of Her Case

The Supreme Court of India has taken up Priya’s case, scheduling an urgent hearing on July 14, 2025, to address a plea filed by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council. The plea urges the Indian government to negotiate with Yemeni authorities and Mahdi’s family to secure a pardon through blood money, a practice allowed under Sharia law where the victim’s family can forgive the accused in exchange for financial compensation. Advocate Subhash Chandran KR, representing Priya, emphasized that diplomatic intervention could delay the execution and facilitate negotiations.

Priya’s mother, Prema Kumari, has been in Sanaa since April 2024, working to negotiate with Mahdi’s family. The family and the Action Council have raised $1 million (approximately ₹8.5 crore) through crowdfunding to offer as blood money, but negotiations stalled in September 2024 when the lawyer appointed by the Indian Embassy demanded additional fees. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been actively involved, providing consular support and engaging with Yemeni authorities. On January 2, 2025, an Iranian official also pledged assistance, given the influence of Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Sanaa, where Priya is imprisoned.

Social worker Samuel Jerome Baskaran, coordinating efforts in Yemen, confirmed the execution date but remains hopeful that a pardon can be secured. “If the victim’s family agrees to forgive her, the execution can be stopped,” he said. The Indian government is exploring all options, including diplomatic efforts to locate tribal leaders and Mahdi’s family for talks.