Trapped in Yemen: India says ‘nothing much’ more it can do to save nurse from gallows
. . . lack of formal diplomatic relations with Sana’a severely limits India's intervention options
With just two days remaining before Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya’s scheduled execution in Yemen, the Indian government informed the Supreme Court on Monday that it has reached the limits of its efforts and there is “nothing much” more it can do.
Attorney General R. Venkataramani told the court that the lack of formal diplomatic relations with Yemen severely limits India’s intervention options.
Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Palakkad, Kerala, is slated to be hanged on July 16, 2025, in Sanaa after being convicted of murdering her Yemeni business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi, in 2017. The Indian government stated it had been making quiet efforts through private channels, fearing that public moves might complicate her situation in Yemen’s volatile political climate, according to news reports.
The case dates back to 2017 when Nimisha, who co-founded a clinic with Mahdi, accused him of sexually and mentally abusing her, forcibly claiming marriage, and confiscating her passport. In an attempt to recover it and flee to India, she allegedly sedated him, resulting in an accidental overdose and death. With help from a Yemeni woman named Hanan, she dismembered the body and concealed it in a water tank.
In 2018, Nimisha was convicted, and in 2020 she was sentenced to death. Her sentence was upheld by Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council in 2023, and President Rashad al-Alimi gave final approval later that year. Despite a push to settle under Yemeni law through diya (blood money) negotiations with Mahdi’s family in 2024, efforts failed.
Public appeals and diplomatic pressure have yielded no progress due to Yemen’s ongoing conflict and lack of international recognition. Authorities have urged the public to remain realistic about the constraints India faces in such high-risk, politically sensitive cases.
The Supreme Court acknowledged the gravity of the situation but noted the government’s limitations. Meanwhile, human rights groups and the Indian diaspora continue to push for urgent last-minute clemency or settlement efforts, even as the clock runs down on Priya’s fate.
