Indian nurse sentenced to death in Yemen for what crime?
An Indian nurse has been sentenced to death in Yemen. On Monday (December 30), Yemeni President Rashad Al-Alimi approved the death sentence of the woman named Nimisha Priya (36). The court said that this sentence will be implemented within the next month.
This news has created quite a stir in India. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has reacted. But who is this Nimisha? For what crime is she going to be executed?
Nimisha, a resident of Palakkad district in the southern Indian state of Kerala, is a nurse by profession. She lived in Yemen with her husband, Tommy Thomas, and their daughter. Nimisha had been working in a private hospital in Yemen since 2008.
After the war broke out in 2014, her husband and 11-year-old daughter returned to India, but Nimisha remained in Yemen. They could not return to Yemen. Because they were no longer granted visas due to the war.
Nimisha’s dream was to open her own clinic. In 2014, she met a Yemeni citizen named Talal Abdo Mahdi. Mahdi promised to help her open a new clinic. Because according to the law, a local partner is needed to start a new business in Yemen.
As planned, the two opened a new clinic in 2015. But after a few days, the two partners started having disagreements. At one point, on July 25, 2017, Nimisha killed Mahdi with a sleeping injection. Then, together with a colleague, he cut his body into pieces and threw it into a water tank.
After this incident, Nimisha tried to flee Yemen that same month. But she was caught by the police. Since then, she has been in a Yemeni prison. In 2018, a Yemeni court found her guilty of Mahdi’s murder. She was sentenced to death.
Nimisha appealed against this verdict to the High Court. According to her, Mahdi tortured her. Even her passport was taken away. As a result, Mahdi had to be killed in self-defense. But the Supreme Court of Yemen rejected her appeal. The death penalty was upheld.
In this situation, the only way to save Nimisha’s life was ‘blood money.’ According to Yemeni law, the family members of the murdered person can spare the life of the murderer in exchange for money or compensation. Now Nimisha’s family has started that effort.
The problem is that India withdrew its diplomatic mission from Yemen after the civil war broke out. As a result, there is no Indian representative in the country now. Indians are not even allowed to go to Yemen.
The decision of the Yemeni President has come as a shock to the family, which has been trying to save 36-year-old Nimisha from the death penalty. Her mother Prema Kumari, 57, came to the Yemeni capital Sanaa earlier this year and has been living there since then, reportedly to secure a reprieve from the death penalty and arrange for blood money with the victim’s family.
However, to save her daughter’s life, Nimisha’s mother approached the Indian court to go to Yemen. The court ordered the administration to make arrangements to send her to Yemen.
Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that all possible help will be provided to Nimisha and her family. If necessary, the Indian government will also talk to the Yemeni government. He also said, ‘The Indian government is aware of the entire situation. Nimisha’s family has also tried everything. The government is helping as much as it can.’
As part of the assistance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already given Nimisha’s family about $20,000. With that money, a lawyer has been appointed for Nimisha. The lawyer has asked for another $20,000 to start negotiations with Mahadi’s family.
