Nimisha Priya case: Final talks underway to halt execution of Kerala nurse

Sana: Discussions concerning the release of Nimisha Priya, a native of Palakkad who has been sentenced to death in Yemen, are set to continue on Tuesday. Talks will be held with tribal leaders and the family of the deceased, Talal.

The delegation led by Sheikh Habib Umar remains in Dhamar, located in northern Yemen. They have conveyed to Kanthapuram that the discussions are progressing positively, and there is hope for a favorable outcome in Tuesday’s follow-up meeting.

Background

Nimisha Priya, who is sentenced to death in Yemen, is a trained nurse and has worked in private hospitals in Yemen for a few years.

Her husband and minor daughter returned to India in 2014 because of financial reasons, and in that same year, Yemen was gripped by civil war, and they could not go back as the country stopped issuing new visas.

Later in 2015, Nimisha joined hands with a Yemeni citizen, Talal Abdo Mahdi to set up her clinic in Sana. She sought Mahdi's support because, under Yemen's law, only nationals are allowed to set up clinics and business firms. In 2015, Mahdi accompanied Nimisha Priya to Kerala when she came for a month-long holiday. During the visit, he stole a wedding photograph of Nimisha, which he later manipulated to claim that he was married to her.

A plea made by the mother of Nimisha Priya had stated, "After a while, Nimisha's clinic began, and Mahdi manipulated the ownership documents of the clinic. He also began to take money out of her monthly earnings after telling everyone that Nimisha was his wife. Nimisha had alleged that Mahdi had been harassing her and her family for years. Mahdi also seized her passport. This was done to ensure that she would not leave Yemen. He tortured her under the influence of drugs. He threatened her at gunpoint several times. He took all the money from the clinic and her ornaments."

The plea further alleged that, unable to cope with the torture, Nimisha complained to the police in Sana, but instead of taking action against Mahdi, the police arrested her and put her in jail for six days. It was further alleged that on her return from jail, the severity of the torture increased manifold. In July 2017, Nimisha took the help of a warden of a jail located near her clinic.

The warden suggested that she should try to sedate him and then convince him to give her his passport.

However, sedation did not affect Mahdi, who was a substance abuser. She tried sedating him again, using a stronger sedative in order to retrieve her passport, but he died within a few minutes due to a drug overdose.

According to Indian Embassy, the death sentence of Nimisha Priya is set for July 16.