MEA cautions against misinformation in Nimisha Priya case

The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said Indian national Nimisha Priya’s execution in Yemen has been postponed and urged all sides to stay away from misinformation on the case while reiterating the sensitivity of the issue.

Terming the Nimisha Priya case a “sensitive matter”, the MEA said India is extending all possible assistance and is engaging with friendly governments on the issue.

Advertisement

Addressing his weekly media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “As I had informed you earlier, this is a sensitive matter and the Government of India has been offering all possible assistance in the case. As a result of our concerted efforts you’ve seen that the sentencing was deferred. We continue to closely follow the matter and render all possible assistance.”

“We are also in touch with some friendly governments on this particular issue. I would also like to underline this particular point that this is a sensitive and complex case and therefore would urge all to be mindful that media reports based on speculation and misinformation are not helpful at all. In so far as reports claiming that there has been certain developments etc, such reports are incorrect, please wait for an update from us. This is a sensitive matter and we urge all sides to stay away from misinformation,” he said.

Earlier, on July 17, during a weekly media briefing, the MEA spokesperson had said that the Indian government has made efforts to ‘seek more time’ for the family of the accused, in order to help them reach a ‘mutually agreeable’ solution.

The scheduled execution of the Indian nurse has been temporarily halted. Nimisha Priya was to be executed on July 13, but following the lengthy period of multipronged negotiations, her execution was kept in abeyance. Priya is currently lodged in a jail in Yemen, facing the death penalty for the alleged murder of her former business partner, Talal Abdo Mehdi, in 2017.

She moved to Yemen in 2008 to support her family and initially worked as a nurse before opening her clinic. In 2017, following a dispute with Mehdi — her business partner — she allegedly administered sedatives to him in a bid to retrieve her confiscated passport. However, the sedatives proved fatal. Priya was arrested while attempting to flee the country and was convicted of murder in 2018.

A death sentence was handed down in 2020 and upheld by Yemen’s Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023. However, the court allowed the possibility of clemency through a ‘blood money’ arrangement. For the unversed, ‘blood money’ is monetary compensation to the family of the person killed in exchange for forgiveness. It is an accepted practice under Sharia law.