Nurse Nimisha Priya Faces Execution in Yemen on July 16: Family Appeals for Mercy, Blood Money Rejected

Kerala Nurse Nimisha Priya

Sana’a, Yemen | July 14, 2025 — In the dark confines of a heavily guarded prison in Yemen’s capital, 38-year-old Indian nurse Nimisha Priya awaits her execution, scheduled just two days from now, on July 16. Convicted of the brutal murder of a Yemeni citizen in 2017, Nimisha now faces the death penalty, and her family is running out of options to save her life.

Nimisha, who hails from Kerala, had moved to Yemen to work as a nurse. According to Yemeni court records, she was accused of killing her local business partner, Talal Abdul Mahdi, by drugging him, and then, with the help of another nurse, dismembering his body and disposing of the remains in an underground tank. The crime shocked the conservative nation and led to her arrest and subsequent confession, which significantly weakened her legal defense.

Despite desperate pleas and multiple appeals, including a mercy petition to the President of Yemen, all efforts have so far been rejected. The Supreme Court of India heard the matter today, where the central government informed that it had made “every possible effort” to intervene and save Nimisha Priya, but admitted that nothing has worked so far.

Hope Rests on Blood Money

Under Yemeni law, which follows Islamic Sharia, the practice of “Diya” or blood money allows a convicted murderer to escape execution if the victim’s family agrees to accept a financial settlement. In Nimisha’s case, her family and the Save Nimisha Priya Action Council have reportedly offered around 1 million USD (approx. ₹8.5 crore) to the victim’s family.

However, according to reliable sources, Talal Mahdi’s family has so far refused to accept the blood money, thereby closing off what may be Nimisha’s last chance at survival. Unless the family of the deceased changes its mind in the next 48 hours, the execution will proceed as ordered.

Nimisha’s mother and daughter in India continue to make tearful appeals for intervention, while activists, diplomats, and human rights advocates scramble to find any last-minute solution. Time is running out, and the fate of Nimisha Priya now rests in the hands of a grieving family in a foreign land.

As the clock ticks toward July 16, the world watches anxiously — with hope, with prayer, and with the haunting question of whether mercy will prevail over justice.