Nimisha Priya is a 36-year-old nurse from Kerala who has been living and working in that part of Yemen which is controlled by the Houthis. As a consequence of their intervention on behalf of Hezbollah, the Houthi administration headquartered in Sanaa has been attacking ships in protest, a move that has led to retaliatory action by the United States and Israel, further adding to the misery of the Yemeni people. Nimisha had a Yemeni business partner as per local laws, who used to ill-treat her and took away her passport. In order to get it back and leave Sanaa, she injected him with a sedative, but gave an overdose, which killed him. As a consequence, she was jailed and faces the death penalty. Her fate depends on the attitude of the relatives of the deceased, who need to forgive her on payment of compensation.
What is evident from the circumstances related to the conviction for murder and mutilation by a Yemeni court of Nimisha Priya is that she must have been desperate to have attempted to drug her tormentor so that she could recover the passport he had taken from her. Out of the desperation caused by a combination of rage and anguish at the ill-treatment she was subjected to by her Yemeni business partner, although a nurse, Nimisha Priya misjudged the dose of tranquilizer she administered to him. As a consequence, he succumbed to the dose. Such errors in dosage are known to happen, even in less trying circumstances than what Nimisha Priya found herself in. Perhaps out of a need for the family to be given the remuneration she earned, Nimisha stayed behind in Yemen even after her child and husband left the country in 2014. Staying behind in a conflict zone is not a wise decision, nor usual, but there must have been financial reasons why Nimisha did so. In 2017, she committed the act of drugging her business partner, and days ago, the chief of the Houthi part of Yemen, al-Houthi, approved the decision to execute her within less than three weeks. In the meantime, assisted by the Ministry of External Affairs, her family is seeking her release through paying money to the relatives of the deceased, as is the law in Yemen.
As a result of collection by well-wishers of the nurse, $40,000 have been paid to the local lawyer in Sanaa who is supposed to represent Nimisha. The lawyer, after receiving the money, claims that it was just a pre-settlement payment rather than the price demanded by the family of the deceased in order to free Nimisha Priya. He claims that the actual money needing to be paid in order that she return to India in safety has yet to be negotiated. Given such a statement, the only option for the family is to rely on friends and well-wishers to bundle together the amount demanded by the family of her business partner, who some claim to be her husband. Nimisha is a married woman, so it is improbable that she would have consented to a marriage with the Yemeni partner. Should she be put to death, public opinion in India would be inflamed. In contrast, were the chief of the Houthis in Yemen to intercede with the family of the business partner and ensure that a reasonable sum is asked for by them, goodwill towards Yemen in India would vastly increase. The historical record shows that India is a steadfast friend, which is what the country would be to Yemen and the government in Sanaa, were Nimisha to be allowed to return to India. In a troubled world, Yemen has very few friends, and Houthi chief al-Houthi would be serving the national interest of Yemen and its people were he to ensure the safe return of Nimisha Priya to her country. Chief al-Houthi, please ensure the return of Nimisha to India.