‘Govt extending all possible help’: MEA reacts to sentencing of Nimisha Priya in Yemen

In response to media queries regarding the case of Nimisha Priya, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, on Tuesday said that the government is extending all possible help in the matter.

In an official release, the MEA 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.”

Who is Nimisha Priya, and what were her charges?

Yemen President Rashad al-Alimi on Monday approved the death sentence for Nimisha, a Kerala nurse who had been convicted of murdering Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national, in July 2017. Reports indicate that the sentence is set to be executed within a month.

Nimisha Priya, a trained nurse sentenced to death in Yemen, had worked in private hospitals in the country for several years. In 2014, due to financial reasons, her husband and young daughter returned to India, and Yemen, soon after, was plunged into civil war, preventing their return as new visas were not being issued.

In 2015, Nimisha partnered with Mahdi to open a clinic in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, as local law only allowed nationals to establish businesses. During a visit to Kerala that same year, Mahdi stole a wedding photograph of Nimisha and used it to falsely claim they were married.

In July 2017, desperate to escape the abuse, Nimisha sought help from a jail warden, who suggested sedating Mahdi to retrieve her passport. When the first dose failed, she administered a stronger sedative, but Mahdi, a substance abuser, died from a drug overdose.

Reports suggest that Nimisha injected Talal with sedatives in an attempt to retrieve her passport, which he had been holding. However, the sedative overdose led to Talal's death.

After mistakenly killing Talal, Priya and her colleague Hanan reportedly chopped Mahadi's body before disposing of it in a water tank. However, Priya was caught by the police and was awarded capital punishment in 2018. However, Hanan, a Yemeni national, was awarded life imprisonment.

Nimisha Priya has spent years attempting to overturn the death sentence imposed on her for the murder. Despite her efforts, the conviction stands, and the legal battle continues, with her family, particularly her mother, Prema Kumari, striving to save her from execution. 

(With inputs from ANI)