Indian nurse accused of chopping her Yemeni husband gets death sentence

Dubai: The death sentence of an Indian nurse from Kerala, who reportedly killed her husband, a Yemeni national in 2017, was upheld by a court in Yemen, on Wednesday. The woman, Nimisha Priya was found guilty of murdering Talal Abdu Mahdi, chopping his body into several pieces and stuffing them in sacks. She had reportedly dumped the sacks in a water tank above their house in Al Deydh.

His body was found only after neighbours complained of a foul smell emanating from the water tank.

Fake marriage certificate

Apparently, Priya who was originally married to a Keralite named Tomy Thomas in 2011, had moved to Yemen with her husband and started working as a nurse. The couple also have a daughter. Later, Thomas and their daughter returned to India, while Priya stayed back.

According to local news reports from Kerala, Priya decided to start a nursing center in the country, and sought the help of Talal Abdu Mahdi, a Yemen national, who was a textile shop worker she had met during her visit to the shop where he worked.

After the crime came to light, she wrote a letter to the government of Kerala in 2018, in which she claimed that she had to resort to murdering Talal, as he was torturing her, and she could not stand it any longer.

In the letter she alleged that Talal forged a marriage certificate to start the medical center in 2014. She said he would pocket all the revenue from the clinic, threaten and sexually assault her. She added that he seized her passport to stop her from leaving.

Unable to bear this she killed Mahdi, chopped his body into pieces, and dumped it in a water tank with the help of a friend.

The duo was arrested and convicted in 2018, by a lower court. Her friend, who is also a nurse, was sentenced to imprisonment for life.

Extreme act of cruelty said appeal’s court

According to reports, following the intervention of Kerala government and India's Ministry of External Affairs, in 2018, a lawyer was appointed by the Indian embassy. The Kerala government sought for a pardon.

Reportedly, Priya was shifted out of the Al Bayda jail, which is meant for death row prisoners, and lodged in a jail in Yemen’s capital.

This week the appeal's court upheld the verdict stating that the act of chopping a human body into pieces and dumping it in the water tank was termed as an act of extreme cruelty.

The family of the deceased asked for Rs70 lakh (Dh342,362) as blood money to pardon her. But, Priya’s mother said their family cannot afford the amount.

Meanwhile, an advocate with the Non-Resident Indian (Keralites) Commission, K L Balachandran who had assisted Priya in the case told local media that they can still file an appeal against the death sentence within 15 days or move a mercy petition in the Supreme Council. Priya’s family has said they will file petition against the appeal court’s verdict.