The family of an Indian Christian woman is desperately attempting to save her life, as she is due to be put to death in Yemen. Nimisha Priya is a 34-year-old nurse and mother who was sentenced to death in 2020 for the alleged murder of her business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi. She claims the man was abusing her. President of the rebel Houthis’ Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, approved her execution.
Yemen is under Sharia law which stipulates the only way to spare Nimisha’s life is to secure forgiveness from the deceased’s family through a ‘blood money’ payment. According to a Yemen-based social worker, Samuel Jerome lies with Mahdi’s family. He told BBC News “If they say they do not want to or can pardon her, the sentence would be immediately stopped.
“Forgiveness is the first step. Whether the family accepts the blood money comes only after that.” Under local law, Nimisha’s family cannot directly contact the family of the victim and must hire negotiators. Public prosecutors are asking to seek consent from Mahdi’s family and ask if they have any objections to the execution. Subhash Chandran a lawyer who represents Priya, added additional context.
He told the BBC that the family had already crowdfunded $40,000 to fund a legal defense. “We now need to explore the scope for discussions with the [victim’s] family, which is possible only with the Indian government’s support,” Mr. Chandran said. He also explained that “Nimisha does not know about what is happening beyond the gates of the prison,” said her husband Tony Thomas, who spoke to her hours before the approval of the death sentence. “The only thing she wants to know is if our daughter is fine.”
Decades ago, when she was only 19, Nimisha traveled from India to Yemen to set up her practice. She planned for her husband, Tony Thomas, and young daughter to join her. However, local law required that she had to partner with a local businessman. She partnered with Mahdi. She alleges that he stole her money and passport and threatened her with a gun, according to a court petition filed by Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council.
In 2017, Madi’s corpse was discovered in pieces in a water tank. The court found that Nimisha poisoned him with sedatives before dismembering him. According to her lawyer, Nimisha never intended to kill him. She planned to knock him unconscious through the sedatives so she could take back her passport. In 2020, a local court sentenced Nimisha to death, but less than three years later her family challenged the decision in Yemen’s Supreme Court. However, their appeal was rejected.
Initially, the two partners were on good terms. Nimisha briefly visited India for her daughter’s baptism, and Mahdi accompanied her back home. “He seemed like a nice man when he came to our house, ” Nimisha’s mother told the BBC. However, she says that Mahdi’s attitude “suddenly changed” when the civil war broke out in Yemen in 2014. This is when she alleges the abuse started.
Her mother says ‘My heart says that we can arrive at a settlement and save Nimisha’s life” She said “More than anything, he said he was worried about their daughter, now 13, who had “never experienced a mother’s love.” She explained that “They speak on the phone every week and my daughter gets upset if she misses the call,” Mr Thomas said.