Centre Denies Reports of Death Sentence Being Commuted for Kerala Nurse Nimisha Priya in Yemen

NEW DELHI:
Amid widespread reports that Yemeni authorities had completely overturned the death sentence of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, the Indian government has denied any such official confirmation, calling the claims “incorrect.”

Priya, a 38-year-old nurse from Palakkad, Kerala, was sentenced to death by a Yemeni court in 2020 in connection with the murder of her former business partner and husband by arrangement, Yemeni national Talal Abdo Mehdi. Reports had earlier quoted the office of India’s Grand Mufti Kanthapuram A.P. Abubakar Musliyar claiming that a high-level meeting in Sanaa had decided to commute her death penalty.

However, sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told India Today that no such confirmation has been received from Yemen. “The information shared by some individuals regarding the Nimisha Priya case is incorrect,” an MEA official reportedly stated.

The Grand Mufti’s office had earlier said the death sentence, which had been temporarily suspended, was now entirely revoked—though it also admitted that no official written communication had been received from Yemeni authorities.

Priya moved to Yemen in 2008 and later partnered with Mehdi to open a clinic in Sanaa. After being subjected to alleged abuse, she reportedly attempted to sedate Mehdi in 2017 to retrieve her passport. The sedative proved fatal, leading to her arrest in 2018 and subsequent conviction.

The case has drawn significant attention in India, with many human rights groups and public figures calling for diplomatic intervention to save her life.