The Embassy of the Republic of Yemen in India on Monday denied that President Rashad Al-Alimi has ratified the death sentence for Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, reported Manorama News citing the consulate’s letter to the news channel.

“The Yemeni government emphasizes that the entire case has been handled by the Houthi militias, and therefore, His Excellency Dr Rashad Al-Alimi, Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Republic of Yemen has not ratified this judgment,” the letter reads.

Priya, from Kerala’s Palakkad district, has been imprisoned in Yemen for the alleged murder of Yemeni citizen Talal Abdo Mehdi in July 2017.

In 2020, she was sentenced to death by a trial court in the capital Sanaa. Her appeal was rejected by the Yemeni Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023. However, it kept open the option of paying “blood money” as per Sharia, or Islamic law. This is the amount paid in compensation to the family of a person who has been killed.

On December 30, news reports claimed that Al-Alimi, who is the chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, had approved the death sentence handed to Priya.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said on December 31 that it was aware of the situation and is extending help to Priya and her family in the matter.

Priya’s mother has been negotiating with Mehdi’s family to secure a waiver of the death sentence.

Priya went to Yemen in 2008 to help her parents, who were daily wage labourers. She worked at hospitals in Yemen before starting her clinic in 2015.

Differences came up between Priya and Mehdi, her business partner, after she questioned him about the alleged embezzlement of funds, her family has claimed.

Priya’s mother alleged in a plea that Mehdi tortured her daughter under the influence of drugs for years and held her at gunpoint several times. The plea also alleged that Mehdi confiscated Priya’s passport so that she could not leave the country.

Mehdi died from an overdose of sedatives Priya allegedly injected him with during an attempt to retrieve her passport.

The Yemeni Civil War began in 2014 when Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of Sanaa. They have since expanded their control across much of the country. The Houthis are part of the Shia sect of Muslims and have a history of conflict with Yemen’s Sunni-majority government.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and an alliance of Muslim states intervened to push back Houthi rebels after they deposed the internationally recognised government of Ali Abdullah Saleh. Thousands have since died and millions have been displaced in the West Asian country.