PALAKKAD: Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya’s death sentence — for the murder of her husband, a Yemen national — was upheld on Tuesday evening by an appeals court in Sana’a. Belonging to Kollengode in Palakkad district, Nimisha, 30, is lodged in a prison there. She was sentenced to death in 2018 after being charged with cutting her husband, Talal Abdu Mahdi, into pieces and concealing his mortal remains in a sack inside the water tank of their flat in Al Deydh. She was arrested after local residents called in the police citing a stench from their house a few days after the incident.
An advocate with the NRI (Keralites) Commission, K L Balachandran — who had assisted Nimisha in the case — told TNIE that the murder took place in 2017. “Nimisha, who was working as a nurse in a hospital, wanted to set up a clinic on her own. As only Yemen nationals were allowed to do so, she arranged a fake certificate showing her marriage to Mahdi, who was already married. The certificate enabled the clinic to get a license from the government in 2014,” he said.
However, after the certificate was registered, Mahdi forced her into marriage according to the religious customs there and they stayed along with his first wife. “Mahdi used to take all the money received at the clinic and subjected Nimisha to all sorts of torture. He seized her passport and prevented her from leaving the country. He also took away all her ornaments. Nimisha stated she was threatened with a gun several times,” Balachandran said.
Talal’s family agrees to grant pardon for Rs 70L
Fed up with the torture, Nimisha — along with her Yemeni friend, Hanana, who too was a nurse — murdered Mahdi. Her friend has been sentenced to life imprisonment. The counsel said they have 15 days to appeal to the Supreme Judicial Council. Should the council accept the petition, the accused will get some more time. A mercy petition will also be submitted. “Discussions were held with the family of Talal and they have agreed to grant pardon if they are given a blood money of Rs 70 lakh,” he said.
He said efforts are on to generate the funds required to secure Nimisha’s release. She is reportedly married to a Thodupuzha native and the couple has a daughter. The father-daughter duo had returned in 2017. The case was referred to Balachandran in 2018 after NORKA-Roots and the Central Government intervened on behalf of Nimisha. The appeals court was scheduled to deliver the verdict originally on December 22, 2019.
The Kerala Government issued an order asking Balachandran to travel to Sana’a and argue the case on her behalf, but the order was received only on December 17. The matter was then taken up with the Indian Embassy and the verdict was postponed. The Covid-19 outbreak resulted in the case being postponed until Tuesday.