Who is Nimisha Priya, Indian nurse on death row in Yemen?
Nurse Nimisha Priya has been sentenced to death in Yemen for the 2017 murder of a Yemeni national. Her execution, approved Yemen by President is imminent.
Nimisha Priya, a 36-year-old nurse from Kerala, has found herself at the center of a high-profile case in Yemen, where she has been sentenced to death for the alleged murder of a Yemeni national, Talal Abdo Mahdi, in 2017. The case has garnered significant attention in India, with the government extending its support to explore all options to assist her. Priya's death sentence was approved by Yemen President Rashad al-Alimi this week, and her execution is scheduled to take place within a month.
The crime and trial
Nimisha Priya was convicted of killing Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni national, in July 2017. Priya reportedly tried to retrieve her passport, which Mahdi had seized, by sedating him with an overdose of drugs. While the intent was reportedly to knock him unconscious, Mahdi died from the overdose. In the aftermath, Priya and her colleague, Yemeni national Hanan, allegedly dismembered Mahdi’s body and disposed of it in a water tank.
The trial court in Yemen sentenced Priya to death in 2018, and the verdict was upheld by the Yemeni Supreme Court in 2023. Recently, Yemen’s President Rashad al-Alimi approved the death sentence, adding urgency to the already tense situation.
Tragic backstory
Priya’s journey to Yemen began in 2011, when she moved there to work as a nurse in the capital city, Sana'a. Financial difficulties led her husband and their young daughter to return to India in 2014, and Yemen’s ongoing civil conflict prevented them from reuniting. Priya remained in Yemen, where she later partnered with Mahdi to open a clinic, a legal requirement for foreign nationals in the country.
However, Mahdi's involvement in Priya's life took a dark turn. He manipulated documents to claim that he was married to her, and Priya alleged that he subjected her to physical and emotional abuse, including torture and threats. According to Priya, Mahdi confiscated her passport, demanded money from her clinic, and used drugs to control her. Priya even reported the abuse to local authorities, but rather than taking action against Mahdi, the police arrested her.
In 2017, desperate to retrieve her passport and escape the abusive situation, Priya reportedly sought the help of a local jail warden, who suggested using sedatives to incapacitate Mahdi. Unfortunately, the sedative caused an overdose, and Mahdi died, leading to her arrest and subsequent conviction.
