New Delhi:
Congress leader K C Venugopal has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step in and save Nimisha Priya, a nurse from Kerala, who is facing execution in Yemen. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Venugopal described Priya as a victim of severe domestic abuse and cruelty, calling the death sentence against her a “grave travesty of justice.”
“The death sentence against Nimisha Priya is a grave travesty of justice. She is a victim of unimaginable cruelty and domestic abuse on foreign soil, driven to the brink,” Venugopal posted.
The death sentence against Nimisha Priya is a grave travesty of justice. She is a victim of unimaginable cruelty and domestic abuse on foreign soil, driven to the brink.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) July 12, 2025
She doesn’t deserve to die.
I’ve written to the PM seeking urgent intervention to prevent her execution. pic.twitter.com/PI18YZZGCY
He also confirmed that he had written to the Prime Minister seeking “urgent intervention to prevent her execution.”
Background:
Nimisha Priya, a native of Kollengode in Palakkad district, was convicted in 2020 for the murder of her Yemeni business partner in July 2017. She was working as a nurse in Yemen when the incident occurred. Yemeni authorities sentenced her to death, and the country’s Supreme Judicial Council rejected her final appeal in November 2023. She is now scheduled to be executed on July 16, 2024.
Diplomatic Hurdles:
In his letter, Venugopal pointed out that efforts have been underway by Priya’s family and support groups to offer “blood money” (diyah) to the victim’s family—a practice permitted under Yemeni law to potentially spare a person from capital punishment. However, negotiations have been complicated by the ongoing civil war in Yemen and internal instability.
“While efforts have been made by the Action Council and her family to negotiate with the victim’s family… these negotiations have faced significant challenges,” Venugopal stated.
He appealed to PM Modi to “implore all possible diplomatic measures” to ensure that Priya is not executed.
Growing Political Pressure:
Demands for immediate action have intensified in Kerala. Earlier this week, Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar from the Communist Party of India also wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, urging him to use “every possible diplomatic and humanitarian channel” to stop the execution.
Nimisha Priya is currently incarcerated at the Sana’a Central Prison in the Yemeni capital.