Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala-born nurse Nimisha Priya, sentenced to death in Yemen for murdering a Yemeni national, is set to be executed on July 16, according to human rights activist Samuel Jerome.
Jerome, who is part of the Save Nimisha Priya action council and has been involved in negotiations with Yemeni officials and the victim’s family, confirmed that the letter of execution has been issued and the jail authorities have officially informed Nimisha of the date.
There is still hope if the victim’s family, that of Talal Abdo Mehdi, forgives her and accepts the blood money. “If the family forgives, blood money will be paid. The negotiations were going on, but they haven’t yet accepted the offer to forgive,” Jerome said. He added that all other legal options have been exhausted, leaving forgiveness from the family as the only remaining possibility.
The negotiation team has reportedly offered USD one million to the victim’s family as compensation. Babu John, a member of the action council, confirmed the offer. Nimisha’s mother, Prema Kumari, who has been in Yemen since 2024 to help save her daughter, continues to stay there as efforts to secure forgiveness continue.
Nimisha moved to Yemen in 2008 and worked in several hospitals before opening her own clinic in 2015 with Talal Abdo Mehdi as her mandatory local partner.
According to her family, disputes arose after she accused him of embezzling funds. To reclaim her passport, allegedly held by Mehdi, she injected him with sedatives to render him unconscious. However, the overdose reportedly led to his death. Nimisha was arrested while trying to flee Yemen.
Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi approved the death sentence last year for Nimisha Priya, who has been in prison since 2017.
49 Indians on death row in 8 countriesThe Indian government informed the Parliament earlier this year that 49 Indians have been sentenced to death in eight different countries, awaiting the implementation of their sentences. The total number of Indian prisoners, including undertrials, in foreign prisons stands at 10,152. According to government data, there are 25 Indians on death row in the UAE, 11 in Saudi Arabia, six in Malaysia, three in Kuwait, and one each in Indonesia, Qatar, the US, and Yemen. In 2024, three Indians were given the death penalty in both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, while one was executed in Zimbabwe. |
