Indian nurse’s death sentence in Yemen spotlights long-standing migrant workers’ woes

The case of an Indian nurse sentenced to death in Yemen has sparked outrage over her claims of harassment and passport confiscation, placing a spotlight on the harsh realities faced by migrant workers and the rigid application of sharia law in the region.

Nimisha Priya, who travelled to Yemen from Southern India’s Kerala in 2008 to look for a nursing job, was found guilty of murdering her business partner in a clinic, a Yemeni man named Talal Abdo Mahdi, in 2020.

She had alleged that Mahdi had been harassing her for many years and had even confiscated her passport, forcing her to try to secure the document by giving him sedatives. Her lawyer has argued that she had tried to anaesthetise Mahdi just to retrieve her passport, but the dosage was accidentally increased.

On December 31, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told reporters: “We are aware of the sentencing of Ms Nimisha Priya in Yemen. We understand the family of Ms Priya is exploring relevant options. The government is extending all possible help in the matter.”

Priya’s relatives and supporters have been working to secure her release by trying to raise diyah or blood money, to be paid to Mahdi’s family, but the payment is only considered as a second step if the family of the victim asks the execution to be stopped and forgives the act of killing.

An Indian court last year allowed Priya’s mother, Prema Kumari, to travel to Yemen to lobby for her daughter’s release, though the Indian government forbids its citizens from travelling to a war-torn country. The sentence against Priya could be carried out shortly, according to reports.