“For Nimisha Priya’s death sentence to be pardoned, the Indian government must intervene immediately,” Babu John of the Save Nimisha Priya Action Council told TNM after Yemen president Rashad Al-Alimi approved the death sentence of the Malayali nurse convicted of killing a Yemeni citizen.
The Sharia law in Yemen places the power to pardon the sentence of a prisoner with the family of the victim. This means that freeing Nimisha Priya will require negotiations to be initiated with the family of Talal Abdo Mahdi, the deceased Yemeni citizen.
At the request of the Action Council, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had appointed a lawyer to negotiate on behalf of Nimisha Priya. Babu said the lawyer demanded a USD 40,000 fee in two instalments. “Through the MEA, we paid USD 20,000 to the lawyer in June 2024. After that, discussions were initiated with the tribal leaders and family members of Talal,” he said, adding that the first phase of discussions was promising.
According to Babu, that Nimisha Priya’s execution has been delayed this far is indicative of Talal’s family being open to discussions and not pressuring the government for the execution.
However, Babu said, when the Yemeni lawyer demanded the second instalment of his fees, the MEA did not approve the transaction for several months. “The Action Council took the stand early on that all transactions will be done only through the MEA. We know that the lawyer asked the MEA for the second transfer, but we didn’t get any formal communication approving the payment from the MEA. Then in December, the Action Council contacted the MEA requesting permission to transfer the remaining amount. When even that went unanswered, we orally informed the MEA that we were paying the lawyer, and transferred the remaining USD 20,000 on December 27.”
It was on December 30, 2024, that the Yemen president approved Nimisha Priya’s death penalty. However, Babu said that the delay in paying the lawyer did not directly lead to the president's approval, which he called “unexpected”.
“What the Indian government is doing is not enough. Currently, everything rests in the hands of the Indian government. If they intervene immediately, we can save Nimisha Priya,” he said.
“She is a victim of the war in Yemen. Talal’s atrocities started after he saw the war wasn’t ending soon. This is a war between Saudi and Iran where Yemeni people are scapegoats. If the Indian government wants to, they can approach local tribals in many ways. But that much intervention is not happening,” Babu said, suggesting that India should use “unofficial” diplomatic means to get in touch with the tribal leaders and the Yemeni government to facilitate the negotiations.
Nimisha Priya went to Yemen in 2008 for work along with her husband and daughter, both of who returned to India in 2014 due to a financial crisis. In 2015, she started a clinic there with the help of Talal Abdo Mahdi, her husband’s friend, as a Yemen citizen’s assistance is mandatory to operate a business in Yemen.
In 2017, Nimisha Priya allegedly injected Talal Abdo Mahdi with a sedative to get her passport, which he had taken from her, in addition to allegedly subjecting her to physical torture and extortion. Following the injection, he collapsed and died. She then disposed of the body in a water tank with the help of a colleague. In August 2017, she was taken into custody. In 2020, she was sentenced to death by a trial court in Sanaa.