Save Nimisha Priya: Political pressure mounts as India races to prevent Kerala nurse’s execution in Yemen

Dubai: As the July 16 execution date of Indian nurse Nimisha Priya draws near, a wave of urgent appeals is sweeping across India — from political leaders to civil society — demanding immediate and decisive intervention from the Indian government to save her life.

On Thursday, Kerala Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, urging high-level diplomatic action. “I earnestly appeal for your intervention in the case of Nimisha Priya, a 37-year-old Indian nurse from Palakkad, who faces imminent execution,” he wrote, calling the matter a grave humanitarian crisis, according to Indian media reports.

The case gained renewed urgency after Samuel Jerome Bhaskaran, a Yemen-based social worker nominated by Nimisha’s mother to negotiate with the victim’s family, confirmed efforts are underway to secure a pardon through blood money (diyat). Speaking to India Today TV, Bhaskaran said, “The only option is to engage influential local leaders who can convince the family to accept the offer.”

Earlier intervention delayed execution

He credited the Indian government’s earlier efforts — including a letter from former MoS for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh — for helping delay execution thus far. Without that intervention, “she would have been executed a long, long time back,” he said.

Meanwhile, political pressure is mounting. CPI(M) MPs K. Radhakrishnan and John Brittas have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, respectively, pressing for diplomatic talks and immediate intervention. Brittas emphasized that the Save Nimisha Priya Action Council, a citizens’ campaign, is willing to cover the full cost of the diyat if a settlement can be reached.

Emotional toll

Radhakrishnan highlighted the emotional toll on the family: “Nimisha’s mother and family are in unbearable anguish. Their only hope lies in the Indian government’s timely action.”

Yemen’s legal system allows for a death sentence to be waived if the victim’s family accepts compensation. But the lack of formal diplomatic ties between India and Yemen’s Houthi-controlled government in Sanaa has made direct negotiations extremely difficult.

State-level support

In an emotional appeal on Wednesday, Mariamma Oommen Chandy, widow of late Kerala CM Oommen Chandy, met Governor Rajendra Arlekar along with her son, MLA Chandy Oommen, to seek urgent state-level support. Mariamma, recalling her husband’s early involvement in the case, pledged to continue his mission to save Nimisha.

The Supreme Court of India is scheduled to hear a petition on July 14 urging the Centre to activate diplomatic channels and halt the execution.

Nimisha, who moved to Yemen in 2008 to work as a nurse, later opened a clinic. In 2017, after a dispute with her Yemeni business partner, Mohammed Mahdi, she allegedly sedated him to retrieve her confiscated passport. He died from the injection, and Nimisha was arrested while attempting to flee.

She was convicted of murder in 2018, sentenced to death in 2020, and that sentence was upheld in 2023 — although Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council allowed room for a family pardon.

At the heart of the rescue effort is Prema Kumari, Nimisha’s mother, who has travelled to Yemen herself to plead with Mahdi’s family. Her fight is backed by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, a coalition of NRI activists mobilizing support, outreach, and fundraising efforts.

With only days left before the execution, the window to save Nimisha Priya is rapidly closing — and all eyes are now on New Delhi to act.