KOCHI: In the quiet village of Poonkayam in Kerala’s Palakkad district, a community holds its breath as the execution date for Nimisha Priya, a 37-year-old nurse on death row in Yemen, draws near. Convicted in 2018 of murdering her Yemeni business partner, Nimisha is scheduled to be executed on July 16. For her childhood friend Vinitha Radhakrishnan, the countdown is agonizing. “We still can’t believe Nimisha could have done something like this,” she said, remembering her former schoolmate from Dhathri Girls’ High School in Kollengode as an “honest, well-mannered girl.”
Despite the looming date, Poonkayam hasn’t lost hope. Vinitha and others are praying for a last-minute government intervention to save Nimisha. Her husband, Tomy—a daily-wage labourer and part-time autorickshaw driver in Thodupuzha, Idukki—is clinging to the same hope. “I’ve tried everything over the years to bring her back,” he said, his voice filled with pain. “I can’t let my daughter grow up without her mother. I beg the Indian government to act now.”
Their 12-year-old daughter, Michele, currently stays in a school hostel in Kothamangalam. Tomy updates Nimisha during her limited prison calls about efforts to secure her release. His last conversation with her was a week ago.
Meanwhile, Nimisha’s mother, Prema Kumari, is in Yemen, trying to negotiate with tribal leaders and the victim’s family for a possible settlement through “blood money,” hoping to appeal to cultural values that respect women. Nimisha was convicted of murdering Talal Abdo Mahdi—her business partner with whom she had set up a clinic in Sana’a—allegedly in retaliation for abuse and confiscating her passport. A Yemeni trial court sentenced her to death, a verdict upheld on appeal.
Nimisha had moved to Yemen in 2012 with Tomy shortly after their marriage. After Michele was born, Tomy and their daughter returned to India in 2014 due to the civil war, while Nimisha stayed back to run their clinic.
With just days left, the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council is intensifying efforts to halt the execution. Activist Samuel Jerome is expected to arrive in Sana’a on Thursday for a final push to negotiate clemency with Talal’s family.