Mother of Indian nurse on death row in Yemen pleads for mercy

Family and supporters press on with clemency bid as Nimisha Priya faces execution for murder of Yemeni citizen

Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse from Kerala, faces execution in Yemen for murder

The mother of an Indian nurse facing the death penalty for the murder of a Yemeni citizen is clinging to hope her daughter will be pardoned by the victim’s family.

Nimisha Priya was scheduled to be executed in Sanaa on June 16 for the murder and dismembering of Yemeni citizen Talal Mahdi in 2017. Yemen’s prosecutors accepted an 11th-hour appeal from her mother Prema Kumari urging for the execution to be postponed.

Ms Kumari is in Yemen to support her daughter who has been imprisoned in Sanaa for the past eight years.

“I can only ask them to forgive my daughter so she can get out of this,” Ms Kumari told The National in an interview from Sanaa. “I spoke to Nimisha a few days ago. She is under a lot of stress and tension. The false news being spread makes her very tense.”

Ms Kumari sends her daughter messages daily by a phone in the prison.

“I tell her to be courageous. I ask her to pray, not to get disturbed by the news floating around and to have faith that everything will be fine,” she said.

Mediation

The Indian media this week carried reports that the execution had been cancelled based on comments from a spiritual leader involved in talks.

The reports were denied by Talal Mahdi’s family who have urged Yemeni authorities to set a new execution date. Mr Mahdi’s family has said asked for justice for the Indian nurse’s inhuman crime of “slaughtering, dismembering and throwing a pure body into a water tank as if it were nothing”.

Ms Kumari said under Yemeni law, a convict’s relatives are not permitted to directly speak to or meet the victim’s family but she sent out appeals through intermediaries.

She cautioned people closely following her daughter’s case, and the media, against spreading incorrect information as it impeded attempts to mediate with Mr Mahdi’s family.

“Please do not cause any trouble in our hopes for her release by spreading false news in media and social media,” she said. “All this is causing a hindrance in the talks, and also affecting us and our state of mind. Please do not spread wrong information.”

Nimisha Priya's mother Prema Kumari, left, and lawyer Deepa Joseph. Photo: Deepa Joseph

Indian social worker Samuel Jerome Baskaran is in Yemen with Ms Kumari to seek a reprieve.

“We are working on a plan to save Ms Priya’s life while respecting the pain of Talal's family,” he said from Sanaa. “We definitely still have hope and will keep on trying. Hope is what drives us and forgiveness from the family is the only solution.”

Mr Mahdi’s family has turned down an offer of $1 million in diya, or blood money, as compensation for his death. The funds were gathered over several years by Ms Priya’s well-wishers in India and across the world, including the UAE.

Under Sharia, only an unconditional pardon by the victim’s family or an acceptance of blood money can halt an execution. Diya is paid to the heirs of the deceased by the party found responsible for the death.

“We do not shy away from the truth – it is a heinous crime she has committed, she has confessed to killing and cutting Talal’s body and this is proven forensically,” Mr Baskaran said. “We continue to seek mercy because if she is not forgiven she will be executed.”

Yemeni family urges retribution

Abdel Fattah Mahdi, Talal's brother, this week turned down reconciliation attempts and demanded justice.

“The execution has become mandatory by law and binding on all parties without any delay,” he said in a signed petition to Yemen’s Public Prosecution.

“The crime committed was beyond all bounds of humanity,” the family said on Facebook. “We urgently request your excellency to set a new date for the execution of the death sentence, which we firmly demand as our legitimate right, especially since we, the victim’s family, have lost our loved one to an atrocious crime.”

Yemeni national Talal Mahdi was killed in 2017 by the Indian nurse. Photo: Abdel Fattah Mahdi / Facebook

Ms Priya was 19 when she arrived in Yemen to work as a nurse in 2008 in a government hospital. She comes from a modest background, her mother is a housemaid in Kerala, and she aimed to reverse her family fortunes. Ms Priya has a husband and a 13-year-old daughter who live in India.

Ms Priya met Mr Mahdi in the hospital when his pregnant wife was admitted for delivery and they struck up a partnership to open a clinic.

Her defence lawyer alleged Mr Mahdi had abused her and confiscated her passport. Mr Mahdi’s family has denied the charges.

Ms Priya’s defence was that to retrieve her passport, she injected Mr Mahdi with sedatives, leading to death from an accidental overdose. Police charged Ms Priya after Mr Mahdi’s dismembered body was found in 2017.

A court in Sanaa sentenced her to death in 2020. Her family challenged the decision but their appeal was rejected in 2023 by Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council.