Indian nurse Nimisha Priya has been sanctioned the death sentence for the murder of a Yemeni national, Talal Abdo Mahdi, for which she has been imprisoned since 2017. The death sentence has been approved by Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi. Priya’s family in seeking options for her release, while her mother is negotiating blood money with the victim’s family amid challenges, including legal fees and a lack of transparency in crowdfunding efforts. The Indian government is actively supporting her claim and offering all possible assistance to Nimisha Priya’s family during this critical situation.
The case magnifies significant issues surrounding legal recourse and the complexities of international justice
The case against Nimisha:
Nimisha Priya, a trained nurse from Palakkad, worked in private hospitals in Yemen for several years. In 2014, her husband and daughter returned to India due to financial problems. The same year, Yemen faced a civil war, and they were unable to return because the country stopped issuing new visas to foreigners.
After that, she allegedly sought help from Talal Abdo Mahdi to establish her own clinic in Yemen, as under Yemen’s law, only citizens are allowed to set up clinics and business firms. In 2015, when she visited Kerala for a month, Mahdi accompanied her and stole her wedding photograph, later altering it to falsely claim they were married.
After returning, Mahdi began to take all the clinic’s revenue and tampered with the ownership documents. He also started taking money from her earnings, falsely claiming she was his wife, and manipulated their photos to support his lie. When Priya confronted him about the embezzlement, he became aggressive and even confiscated her passport. The help turned into a turbulent relationship, leading to harassment and exploitation of Priya. Further allegation includes her being physically abused and manipulated by Mahdi.
Despite Priya’s attempts to involve the police in Sana’a, they arrested her instead, holding her in jail for six days without taking action against Mahdi.
Nimisha Priya was convicted of murdering Talal Abdo Mahdi in 2017, and in 2018, she faced a death sentence from a Yemeni trial court.
Legal battle and alternatives for Nimisha:
Foreign nationals facing death penalties in Yemen have several legal options, though the process can be complex and challenging. Foreign nationals can also appeal their sentences through the Yemeni judicial system. However, as seen in Nimisha Priya’s case, appeals can be rejected, and the process may not always favour the defendant. Her family has been trying to appeal this decision and sought intervention from the Yemeni Supreme Court, but their appeal was denied in 2023.
Diplomatic intervention from the external affairs ministry of India is also advocating for her release or to negotiate terms with the Yemeni government. The government so far has also provided a large sum of money to the lawyer appointed by the Indian ambassy there for the same.
Crowdfunding and Legal Aid can be worked at for her early release and cover the huge expenses with the defence. A crowdfunding initiative was formed by the “Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council” to raise funds for legal fees associated with the case, but they have encountered transparency issues with the finances, being used otherwise.
In a determined bid to secure a waiver for Nimisha’s death penalty, her mother, Prema Kumari, traveled to Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, earlier this year. With support from the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, an organization of NRI social workers in Yemen, she negotiated the payment of diya (blood money) to the victim’s family.
Although the President of Yemen has also turned down her request for mercy. Currently, her only hope for release lies in obtaining forgiveness from Mahdi’s family and their tribal leaders, which remain stagnated due to high legal fee demands.
