What’s India Doing to Support Nimisha Priya’s Family Amid Yemen’s Death Sentence Verdict?
Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who has been jailed since 2017 for the murder of a Yemeni national, has been given the death penalty by Yemen President Rashad al-Alimi. According to media sources, the sentence will be carried out in a month. In a statement released today, India acknowledged that Nimisha Priya had been given a death sentence in Yemen and promised to assist her family in every way it could.
“We understand that the family of Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help in the matter,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in the statement.
The Kerala family of Nimisha Priya who has been working to save the 36 year old off death row was taken aback by the Yemeni president’s decision. According to reports, her mother Prema Kumari has been in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital since earlier this year in an attempt to negotiate the blood money with the family of the man she killed and obtain a waiver of the death penalty.
What is Nimisha Priya’s Case?
In 2017, Nimisha Priya was convicted of the murder of Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi. A Yemeni trial court sentenced her to death a year later. Her family has been battling for her release ever since. In 2023, they appealed the trial court’s ruling to the Yemini Supreme Court but their case was denied. Now that Priya’s appeal has been denied by the nation’s president, her release is contingent upon winning the pardon of the victim’s relatives and tribal chiefs.
According to a report by Manorama online, Prema Kumari has been attempting to negotiate blood money with the victim’s family but negotiations were abruptly stopped in September when Abdullah Ameer, the lawyer assigned by the Indian Embassy demanded a pre-negotiation fee of $20,000 (roughly Rs16.6 lakh). Ameer had already received $19,871 from the Indian foreign ministry in July but before he would continue negotiations, he demanded a total price of $40,000 which would be paid in two installments.
Through crowd funding, the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council was able to raise the first installment of Ameer’s fee. Later on they apparently had trouble keeping donors informed about the usage of the money.
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