WEBDESK: Yemeni authorities have postponed the execution of Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse convicted of a gruesome murder in 2017. She was found guilty of killing and mutilating her Yemeni business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, and attempting to hide his body in a water tank.
Nimisha priya, a Keralite who arrived in Yemen in 2008 had denied the charges, however the court found ample evidence on how she had a hand in the gruesome killing. In 2020, she was given a death penalty, which was denied on her final appeal in 2023.
Her execution has been delayed after attempts by the Indian government and campaign groups to postpone this.
Victim’s Family Rejects Blood Money in Nimisha priya Case
Yemen follows Islamic Sharia law, which allows for “Qisas” (equal retaliation) unless the victim’s family accepts “diyah” (blood money) as pardon.
Nimisha’s supporters claim to have raised $1 million to offer the family in exchange for her life. But the victim’s family has refused, demanding justice, not money.
“We insist on implementing God’s Law in Qisas,” said Abdelfattah Mahdi, the victim’s brother, in an interview with BBC Arabic.
“The crime was brutal. It involved dismembering and hiding a body. No media campaign can hide the truth,” he added, criticising the Indian media for portraying a convicted killer as a victim.
India Tries to Distort the Nimisha priya Case
The Indian media and activists have been accused of trying to mislead global opinion, focusing only on Nimisha’s background while ignoring the pain and trauma suffered by Mahdi’s family.
Despite Indian diplomatic pressure, the victim’s family remains firm.
The Indian foreign ministry admitted it had been trying to buy time to reach a deal. Yet, it has failed to secure a pardon, as the Mahdi family continues to demand full justice.
Her mother who is a domestic worker in Kerala has been in Yemen, since the month of April 2024, begging their daughter to spare her life. However, there is little hope since all the legal channels are now exhausted and the only hope that can save him is a pardon.
Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, led by Mahdi al-Mashat, already approved the death sentence earlier this year.
Until now, the Indian side continues to delay justice, while ignoring the voice of the victims. The attempts to influence public opinion through money and media have failed to erase the facts of the crime.
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