MEA rejects Grand Mufti’s claims of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya’s death sentence being cancelled

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday firmly dismissed claims circulating online that Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya’s death sentence in Yemen had been officially overturned.

“Information being shared by certain individuals on the Nimisha Priya case is inaccurate,” MEA sources told India Today, adding that there has been no official confirmation from the Yemeni authorities regarding a full cancellation of her sentence.

The rebuttal came hours after the Grand Mufti of India, Kanthapuram A.P. Abubakar Musliyar, issued a statement suggesting that a “high-level meeting in Sanaa” had resolved to fully cancel Nimisha’s death sentence, originally suspended earlier this month. However, even the Mufti’s office clarified that no formal written communication had been received from Yemen yet.

Earlier, the government had rejected claims that Grand Mufti played any role in postponing the death sentence of Nimisha Priya.

Nimisha’s execution, originally scheduled for July 16, was halted at the last moment after a direct clemency appeal from the Grand Mufti to Yemeni authorities.

Why was Nimisha Priya sentenced to death?

Nimisha Priya, 38, from Kerala’s Palakkad district, moved to Yemen in 2008 for better job prospects. A trained nurse, she later entered a business partnership with a Yemeni man, Talal Abdo Mahdi. Things soured when Mahdi allegedly harassed her, seized her passport, and falsely claimed to be her husband, trapping her in Yemen.

In a desperate bid to recover her documents, Nimisha reportedly tried to sedate Mahdi in 2017. The attempt backfired when he died of a suspected drug overdose. She was arrested, convicted of murder in 2018, and sentenced to death in 2020.

The case has drawn global attention amid appeals for mercy and diplomatic efforts from both the Indian government and religious leaders.

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