Claims by Cleric and Evangelist on Nimisha Priya Case Inaccurate, Say Officials

Information recently shared by Indian cleric Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musaliyar and Christian evangelist K.A. Paul regarding the case of Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse on death row in Yemen, is inaccurate, according to people familiar with the matter.

Musaliyar’s office, on Monday, claimed that Priya’s death sentence had been overturned—a claim echoed by Paul, who is currently in Yemen alongside Priya’s husband and daughter as part of efforts to secure her release.

However, officials involved in the case have firmly denied these claims.

“Information being shared by certain individuals on the Nimisha Priya case is inaccurate,” said one person with direct knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Indian officials have not confirmed any developments supporting the statements made by Musaliyar or Paul.

Priya, 38, has been imprisoned in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital currently under Houthi rebel control, after being convicted of the 2017 murder of her Yemeni business partner, Talal Abdo Mahdi. A Yemeni court sentenced her to death in 2020, and her final appeal was rejected by the Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023.

Her execution, originally scheduled for July 16, was temporarily postponed after intervention by Indian authorities and non-resident Indians lobbying for clemency.

With India lacking diplomatic representation in Yemen, the case is being managed by Indian diplomats in Saudi Arabia. The focus of current efforts is on arranging a “diyat”, or blood money payment, to the victim’s family, as permitted under Shariah law, which can allow for a pardon in death penalty cases.

Priya’s mother, Premakumari, traveled to Yemen last year to negotiate with Mahdi’s family. She is being supported by a network of non-resident Indians living in Yemen.

The murder reportedly stemmed from escalating personal and financial disputes between Priya and Mahdi. In an effort to retrieve her withheld passport, Priya allegedly injected him with sedatives, which resulted in a fatal overdose.

Diplomatic sources caution that any misleading or premature claims about the case risk complicating delicate negotiations.