The brother of Talal Abdo Mahdi, the Yemeni businessman murdered by Indian nurse Nimisha Priya in 2017, is once again demanding her execution. Abdul Fattah Mahdi stated in a recent Facebook post that his family met with Yemen's Deputy Attorney General to push for a fixed date for the execution. He also shared a letter addressed to the Attorney General, insisting on the swift enforcement of the "retaliation" verdict.
Nimisha Priya, a native of Kerala, India, moved to Yemen in 2008 to work as a nurse and later started her own clinic in Sanaa. She entered into a business partnership with Talal Abdo Mahdi. The relationship deteriorated, with Priya alleging that Mahdi harassed her, falsely claimed they were married, and confiscated her passport. In 2017, in an attempt to retrieve her passport, Priya tried to sedate Mahdi, but he died of a suspected drug overdose. She was arrested, and in 2020, a Yemeni court sentenced her to death.
Abdul Fattah's letter to the Attorney General described the murder as a "brutal and unprecedented" crime that horrified the Yemeni public. He noted that the execution was initially scheduled for June 7, 2025, but was postponed, and his family rejects any possibility of clemency. This marks his third public appeal in recent weeks. According to court findings, Priya murdered Talal, dismembered his body, placed the remains in bags, and hid them inside a sealed underground water tank.
The case has sparked international attention, with numerous legal and humanitarian campaigns launched to save Nimisha Priya's life. Following mediation efforts by Indian religious leaders and Yemeni scholars, her execution was delayed. Supporters in India are continuing efforts to raise "diya" (blood money) to seek clemency through legal channels.
Conflicting reports have emerged regarding the status of Nimisha Priya's death sentence. The office of Indian Grand Mufti Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobakr Musliyar claimed that her death sentence had been revoked after a high-level meeting in Sanaa. However, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has refuted these claims, stating that the information is inaccurate. Unnamed Indian foreign ministry sources told ANI news agency that "information being shared by certain individuals on the Nimisha Priya case is inaccurate". The Indian government previously told the Supreme Court that there was "nothing much" it could do to prevent Priya's execution, given the lack of formal diplomatic ties with Yemen.
Yemeni law allows a murder convict to be pardoned by the victim's family in exchange for "diyat," or blood money. The system allows for private settlements to replace capital punishment in cases of murder, provided the victim's family agrees.
In a recent video from Yemen, Nimisha's 13-year-old daughter, Michelle, appealed for help, saying, "I miss my mother. Please help bring her back". Michelle had traveled to Yemen with her father and Action Council members to support efforts for her mother's release.
