Kerala CM Urges PM Modi To Save Nurse Nimisha Priya From Death Penalty In Yemen

Last Updated:July 13, 2025, 22:30 IST

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan urged PM Modi to intervene to save Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse facing the death penalty in Yemen for murdering Talal Abdo Mehdi.

Nimisha Priya from Kerala’s Palakkad district moved to Yemen in 2008. Her only hope lies in securing a pardon through 'diyya' or blood money under Sharia law. (Photo: News18 Malayalam)

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene to save the life of Nimisha Priya, facing the death penalty in Yemen. 

Indian nurse Nimisha Priya has been sentenced to death by a Yemeni court after being convicted of murdering a citizen of the country.

“I appeal to the Prime Minister to take up the matter and intervene with the authorities concerned to save the life of Nimisha Priya," CM Vijayan wrote to PM Modi.

The gravity of charges against Nimisha Priya has made it difficult for the efforts to seek relief for her to succeed, news agency PTI said, citing sources.

Priya’s family, along with several political parties and organisations, are urging the Indian government to intervene diplomatically to save her from execution in Yemen, scheduled for July 16.

According to Yemeni court documents, Nimisha Priya in July 2017 allegedly drugged and murdered her local business partner, identified as Talal Abdo Mehdi, and, with the help of another nurse, chopped his body and disposed of the dismembered parts in an underground tank.

Later, after the discovery of Mehdi’s murder, Nimisha was arrested and allegedly confessed to the killing in one of her statements, the sources said, adding that the trial court in Sanaa sentenced her to death.

She challenged this verdict in the highest court in Yemen, but her appeal was rejected and the death sentence upheld. Then Nimisha appealed for mercy to the President of Yemen, but he refused to grant her a pardon, the sources noted.

“The family of the deceased, Talal Abdo Mehdi, is not even willing to accept blood money. All legal efforts have been made for Nimisha Priya, but the allegations against her were so grave that all efforts have failed," PTI said, citing sources.

Various political parties and organisations, particularly from Kerala, are pressing the Indian government to intervene and save Nimisha Priya from the death penalty.

The Ministry of External Affairs has said it is closely monitoring the developments in the case and is extending all possible help.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to use diplomatic channels to save the Indian nurse.

The sources said that Nimisha Priya was working in Yemen as a nurse since 2008, adding that she travelled to the country with her husband Tommy Thomas after their marriage in 2011, PTI reported.

Due to the civil war in Yemen in 2014, her husband returned to Kerala with their daughter, while Nimisha stayed in Yemen.

Location :

Kerala, India, India

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