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Indian nurse Nimisha Priya faces death penalty for murdering her Yemeni sponsor

To escape torture and retrieve her passport, the nurse administered drugs to sedate the man, leading to his death from an overdose

Published: Wed 1 Jan 2025, 1:10 PM

Updated: Wed 1 Jan 2025, 1:30 PM

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  • ANI

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The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed its awareness of the death sentence handed to Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse in Yemen, and assured that the government is providing all possible assistance.

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

Nimisha has been sentenced to death for the alleged murder of a Yemeni national, Talal Abdo Mahdi, in 2017. Mahdi was her sponsor. Her death sentence was approved by Yemen President Rashad Al Alimi this week, and her execution is scheduled to take place within a month.

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The crime

Nimisha reportedly tried to get back her passport, which Mahdi had seized, by sedating him with drugs. While she wanted to render him unconscious, Mahdi died from the overdose.

The trial court in Yemen sentenced Nimisha to death in 2018, and the verdict was upheld by the Yemeni Supreme Court in 2023.

The backstory

She is a trained nurse who has worked in Yemen's private hospitals for a few years. Her husband and daughter returned to India in 2014 because of financial reasons and in that same year, Yemen was gripped by civil war, and they could not go back as the country stopped issuing new visas.

Later in 2015, Nimisha joined hands with a Mahdi to set up her clinic in Yemen's capital city Sana. She sought Mahdi's support because, under Yemen's law, only nationals are allowed to set up clinics and business firms.

A plea moved by Priya's mother stated, "After a while, when Nimisha's clinic began, Mahdi manipulated the ownership documents. He began to take money out of her monthly earnings after alleging that Nimisha was his wife. My daughter had alleged that Mahdi had been harassing her and her family for years. He also seized her passport. This was done to ensure that she would not leave Yemen. He tortured her under the influence of drugs. He threatened her at gunpoint several times. He took all the money from the clinic and her ornaments."

The plea further alleged that unable to cope with the torture, Nimisha complained to the police in Sana but instead of taking action against Mahdi, the police arrested her and put her in jail for six days. It was further alleged that on her return from jail, the severity of the torture increased manifold.

In July 2017, she tried to sedate him and convince him to give her passport. 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.

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