With merely two days remaining for her planned execution in Yemen, the government of India told the Supreme Court on Monday that it can do very little more to prevent Nimisha Priya — a Kerala nurse aged 38 — from being executed for the murder of her Yemeni business partner in 2017. The seriousness of the case, combined with geopolitical constraints and absence of formal diplomatic relations, has reduced the efforts of the government to a virtual standstill.
Who is Nimisha Priya?
Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Palakkad, Kerala, had gone to Yemen to work and subsequently co-established a medical clinic with a local entrepreneur, Khalid Mohammed Abdullah. Their business partnership soured over time with accusations of abuse, financial disputes, and threats to her liberty and life. Nimisha was found guilty in 2017 of murdering Khalid — by allegedly injecting him with sedatives to get back her passport and flee the country with her daughter. The scheme went wrong, and Khalid died.
After a trial in Sana’a, held under Houthi rebel control, Nimisha was sentenced to death. Her mother, lawyers, and human rights organizations have since then engaged in a battle uphill legally and diplomatically to stop her execution.
What Did the Indian Government Say?
Attorney General R. Venkataramani, on behalf of the Government of India, informed the Supreme Court on July 14, 2025, that all diplomatic and unofficial avenues had been pursued. “There is a point up to which the Government of India can proceed. We have reached that,” he said hearing a plea filed by the Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, an association of Indian citizens who are agitating to save her life.
The AG asserted that India had even reached out to “an influential sheikh” in Yemen to intervene with the Houthi government. An unofficial assurance had been received that the hanging could be put on hold, but there has been no official word about such a turn of events. The government stated that it is making decisions in the dark, relying on backchannel messages and local intermediaries in a war-torn part of the world where India has no diplomatic mission.
Why the Government of India is Constrained to Act
India’s helplessness to act on the case of Nimisha Priya is largely because of one key reason — no formal diplomatic ties with Yemen’s de facto leaders, the Houthi rebels. The Houthis, who hold the capital city of Sana’a and other areas of northern Yemen, are not internationally recognized as the government of Yemen. India’s Embassy in Yemen has been closed since 2015 because of the civil war, and work has been managed out of Djibouti.
This lack of formal channels has compelled India to fall back on informal and humanitarian avenues, such as mediation through tribal leaders and religious opinion-makers. But the legal system in Houthi rule is not subject to the same norms or provides the same transparency and diplomatic recourse that India can reasonably anticipate from recognized governments.
The Option of “Blood Money”
In Yemeni law, particularly in Sharia-based and tribal systems, “blood money” or “diya” can be paid to the victim’s family for leniency in murder cases. It has become an essential element of the approach being followed by the citizens’ group and Nimisha’s family.
However, this avenue is also fraught with complications. The victim’s family reportedly refused to negotiate, and there’s limited time left to change their minds. Even if they agree, arranging the money
