Why Nimisha Priya, Indian-origin nurse, has been awarded death penalty in Yemen?

- In 2014, she came in contact with Talal Abdo Mahdi, who promised to help her in starting her own clinic

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed on Tuesday its awareness of the death sentence handed to Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse accused of killing a Yemeni national. “We understand that the family of Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help in the matter,” MEA added.

Priya has been convicted of murdering one Talal Abdo Mahdi, who died in July 2017, after she injected him with sedatives in order to get back her passport from his possession.

-         Nimisha Priya is a nurse from Kerala’s Palakkad district, who moved to Yemen in 2008 to support her daily-wage labourer parents.

-         She worked in private hospitals in Yemen for a few years before deciding to set up her own clinic.

-         In 2014, she came in contact with Talal Abdo Mahdi, who promised to help her in starting her own clinic. Under Yemen’s law, only nationals are allowed to set up clinics and business firms. She set up a clinic in 2015, with the help of Mahdi.

-         Tensions arose between her and Mahdi, with Priya alleging abuse, torture, and the confiscation of her passport, effectively stranding her in Yemen.

-         Reports indicate that Mahdi falsely presented himself as her husband to Yemeni authorities, hindering her ability to seek assistance from them.

-         With an aim to get her passport which was confiscated by Talal Abdo Mahdi back, she allegedly injected him with sedatives. However, sedation did not affect Mahdi, who was a substance abuser.

-         She tried sedating him again, using a stronger sedative in order to retrieve her passport but he died within a few minutes due to a drug overdose.

-         According to The New Indian Express, Nimisha’s 57-year-old mother, Prema Kumari, had reached Yemen’s capital Sana’a earlier this year, and has been staying there to secure a waiver of the death penalty and negotiate the blood money with victim’s family.

-         Her mother even reached out to the Yemeni Supreme Court against the death sentence, however, it was rejected in 2023.

-         Reports said Priya was handed capital punishment by a trial court in 2020 and Yemen's Supreme Judicial Council upheld the verdict in November 2023. The situation has taken a critical turn with President Rashad al-Alimi's recent approval of the death sentence.

In response to media queries regarding the case of Nimisha Priya, MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We are aware of the sentencing of Nimisha Priya in Yemen. We understand that the family of Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help in the matter.”