NEW DELHI: Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who was handed a death penalty in Yemen, will reportedly be executed on July 16, but her family said they didn’t get any information.
The 37-year-old nurse from Kerala had been convicted for allegedly murdering a Yemeni national in June 2018 and the local court handed out a death sentence to her.
“We have been closely following the matter since then. We have been in regular touch with local authorities and her family members and rendered all possible assistance. We continue to closely follow the matter,” sources told this newspaper.
However, there was no official word on the development.
Amid the reports of her execution date being set, Nimisha's family said they have not received any confirmation on the development.
“We haven't so far received any official communication. We only learned about it through some media reports and waiting,” said Tomy Thomas, husband of the imprisoned nurse.
Meanwhile, Human rights activist Samuel Jerome, who is part of the Nimisha's counsel, told the TNIE that the “letter of execution has been issued and the jail authorities have officially informed me of the date.”
“I am now back in Yemen there is still hope if the victim’s family accepts the blood money. Some people have forward again to help her,” he said.
Samuel is involved in negotiations with Yemeni authorities and the family of the victim, Talal Abdo Mahdi.
According to these reports, the Yemeni public prosecutor has issued an order to the prison, scheduling the execution for July 16.
Nimisha was sentenced to death by a trial court in 2020, and the verdict was upheld by Yemen's Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023.
However, the ruling allowed for the possibility of clemency through the payment of "diya"—a form of blood money—to the victim’s family. This narrow hope for reprieve has become the central focus of the Nimisha Priya Action Council, which is working to save her life.
A daily wage labourer and driver, Priya's husband Thomas has been forced to send their daughter, now a seventh class student, to a hostel due to financial constraints. The family is burdened by a debt of Rs 60 lakh, incurred in 2015 to set up a clinic in Yemen, which was shut down in 2017, Thomas had said earlier.