Who is Nimisha Priya? Indian nurse on death row in Yemen to be executed next week for...; know details about her case

Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse who has been on death row for the murder of a Yemeni citizen, will be executed next week. Last year, the president of the Middle Eastern country, Rashad al-Alimi, had approved death sentence for Nimisha, who is originally from Kerala's Palakkad district. Nimisha is now scheduled to be executed on Wednesday (July 16), according to media reports.

What is Nimisha's case?
Nimisha, born in Kerala to daily wage labourers, trained as a nurse and moved to Yemen in 2008. After working at several hospitals, Nimisha opened her clinic in partnership with Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mahdi in 2014, as rules there mandate partnering with a local for starting a business. But Nimisha had a fallout with Mahdi, after which she filed a complaint against him. Mahdi was subsequently arrested but eventually released from jail and continued to threaten her. Nimisha's family says that she had injected Mahdi with sedatives so as to recover her confiscated passport. However, an overdose of the sedatives led to his death. She was arrested while attempting to flee the country and was convicted of murder in 2018. The verdict was upheld by Yemen's Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023. Yemen imposes death penalty for various offences, including murder, adultery, and drug trafficking.

What does Indian govt say?
The Indian government has said it is in regular contact with authorities in Yemen as well as with Nimisha's family. "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," news agency ANI reported. Samuel Jerome Baskaran, a social worker who has been negotiating with Yemeni officials and Mahdi's family, is expected to soon leave for Yemen to resume talks with the parties.