Indian nurse facing death penalty in Yemen: MEA says it’s extending all possible help

India on Tuesday (December 31) said it is extending all possible help to explore relevant options in the case of an Indian nurse facing the death sentence in Yemen.

Nimisha Priya, hailing from Kerala, has reportedly been handed the capital punishment after being convicted of murdering a Yemeni citizen.

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"We are aware of the sentencing of Ms. Nimisha Priya in Yemen. We understand that the family of Priya is exploring relevant options," said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

"The government is extending all possible help in the matter," he added.

Jaiswal was replying to a media query.

Yemen President rejects Priya’s appeal

Yemen President Rashid al-Alimi has rejected Nimisha Priya’s appeal for clemency. His decision has come as a shock to her family who have been doing everything possible to save the 36-year-old nurse from the death penalty.

Her 57-year-old mother, Prema Kumari, went to the Yemeni capital Sana’a earlier this year and has been making efforts to save her daughter. It is said that Priya’s release now depends on obtaining forgiveness from the victim’s family and their tribal leaders and paying the family “blood money”.

Also Read: Yemen court rejects Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya's plea against death penalty

Prema Kumari has been trying to negotiate with the victim’s family on the blood money to be paid, but the negotiations stopped in September after the lawyer appointed by the Indian Embassy, Abdullah Ameer, demanded a pre-negotiation fee of $20,000, according to a report by Manorama online.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs reportedly paid Ameer $19,871 in July, but the lawyer is demanding a total fee of $40,000 to be paid in two instalments in order to resume the negotiations.

The case

Nimisha Priya, from Palakkad, is a trained nurse who worked in some private hospitals in Yemen for a few years. Her husband and daughter had to return to India in 2014, and could not go back to Yemen after that because of the outbreak of civil war.

In 2015, Priya reportedly asked Mahdi (the victim) for help in setting up a clinic in Sana’a, since Yemeni regulations allow only citizens to set up clinics or companies. Mahdi accompanied Priya for a month-long holiday to Kerala, during which he stole her wedding photograph. He later manipulated this photo to claim that she was his wife.

Also Read: Only a miracle can now save Kerala nurse awaiting execution in Yemen

When both of them returned to Yemen, Priya started the clinic. Mahdi tampered with the ownership documents of the clinic, and began embezzling money from the clinic operations. He morphed Priya’s wedding photo to show that she was married to him, and told people that she was his wife. He started taking money even from her monthly earnings.

When Priya questioned him about all this, he harassed her and seized her passport. He even physically tortured her.

Priya reportedly complained to the police, who instead of acting against Mahdi, arrested her and threw her into prison for six days.

Also Read: An Indian nurse on death row in Yemen, blood money negotiations and fading hopes

In July 2017, Priya got in touch with the warden of a jail where Mahdi was previously incarcerated under various charges. The warden told her to sedate Mahdi and then persuade him to return her passport to her. The sedation, however, was not effective since Mahdi was a substance abuser. She then used a stronger dose, which proved to be fatal.

(With agency inputs)