India does not have formal diplomatic relations with the Houthis, who control the area of Yemen in which Nimisha Priya is jailed and to be executed
Efforts are on from several quarters to save Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, 37, who is set for execution in Yemen’s capital city Sana’a in a murder case. The Indian government’s efforts are complicated by the fact that India does not have formal diplomatic relations with the Houthis, the rebel group controlling large parts of Yemen.
India’s diplomatic relations are with the Presidential Leadership Council, which is the internationally recognised government, while the Houthis’ top body is called the Supreme Political Council.
What’s India doing to save Nimisha Priya?
After a trial court convicted Nimisha Priya of murder and sentencing her to death, the Supreme Judicial Council of the Houthi-governed Syria stamped this verdict in 2023.
There were confusing reports that President Rashad al-Alimi, leader of the recognised government, “approved” the death sentence but Yemen’s embassy in Delhi later clarified that the case was in Houthi-held territory.
The Indian government has earlier said in Parliament that it was providing all assistance to the family of Nimisha Priya, who is from Palakkad district in Kerala.
But lack of diplomatic channels with the Houthis made negotiations difficult.
Sources told HT that India has been actively working to prevent Priya’s execution. “We have been closely following the matter since she was given the death sentence. We have been in regular touch with Yemeni authorities and her family members and rendered all possible assistance,” an Indian official said.
But there’s been no further clarity.
Nimisha Priya’s family, others trying
Nimisha Priya’s mother, Premakumari, travelled to Yemen last year, purportedly using back channels and local links to try and get her out by paying “blood money”, payment to the victim’s family, which is permitted under Yemeni law. However, that option is stalled, a human rights campaign called Save Nimisha Priya Action Council
the council said they offered to pay $1 million, approximately ₹8.5 crore, but the murder victim’s family has not yet come back with how much they expect to be paid.
Members of the council have said they will try to contact the family “within the next two days”.
Samuel Jerome Baskaran, a social worker who is negotiating with government officials in Yemen and Talal’s family, has confirmed to media outlets that a letter was issued by the public prosecutor to the jail authorities for the execution.
What is the case against Nimisha Priya?
Priya had moved to Yemen in 2008 to work as a nurse. She got married in 2011 to an Indian man, but her husband and daughter had to return to India in 2014 due to financial challenges.
She stayed and tried to open her own clinic.
In 2014, the rebel group Houthis took control of Sana’a. The conflict prevented Priya’s husband and child from returning.
Meanwhile, she partnered with a local trader named Talal Abdo Mahdi to open a clinic, as was required by law.
He allegedly manipulated documents to claim that he was married to her, and Priya also alleged he subjected her to physical and emotional abuse. According to Priya, Mahdi confiscated her passport, demanded money from her clinic, and used drugs to control her.
That’s when she sought the help of a local jail warden and used sedatives on Mahdi, which led to an overdose and Mahdi died.
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