A magistrate court here on Friday granted police the custody of Greeshma, a postgraduate student indicted for fatally poisoning her lover, Sharon.
The magistrate also sent Greeshma’s mother, Sindhu, and uncle, Nirmal Kumar, to police custody for questioning. The custody period of the accused ends on November 11.
The police alleged that a toxic mix of greed and superstition had precipitated the crime. Notably, the Sharon murder also had echoes of the 2019 Koodathai killings, wherein a woman had slyly poisoned several family members over an extended period for inheritance.
Investigators claimed the accused had spiked an Ayurvedic concoction with a lethal pesticide and persuaded Sharon to consume it. Subsequently, Sharon was admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, with signs of severe poisoning. He died a few days later.
Investigators said Greeshma’s family wanted their daughter to sever her relationship with Sharon for a wealthier groom. They also allegedly took to heart a soothsayer’s advice that whoever married Greeshma first was fated to die prematurely. Nevertheless, her second marriage would strike success. Investigators said both factors had motivated the accused to commit the crime.
The police claimed the accused had tricked Sharon into drinking the noxious mix. On his deathbed, Sharon gave a dying declaration to the magistrate. His relatives criticised the Parassala police for “siding with the accused” by rejecting their suspicions about the incident.
The defence counsel claimed in court that Sharon’s deathbed statement contained nothing incriminating against the accused. He alleged the case was a trumped-up one. He asked the court not to discount the possibility that Sharon had consumed poison to spite Greeshma after the lovers fell out with each other.
The murder intrigued the public, given Greeshma’s background as an academic high-achiever and successful all-rounder. It also caused a public outcry, with social media portraying Sharon as a victim of wickedness. Mobile video reels and selfies of Greeshma and Sharon courting each other vent viral, riveting public attention.
Soon, investigators concluded that Greeshma’s mother had instigated the murder. The recovery of the poison bottle from Greeshma’s house was a turning point in the case.
Immediately the police arraigned Greeshma’s uncle as a suspect in the case “for attempting to destroy evidence”.
While in custody, Greeshma attempted suicide by consuming an anti-septic stored in the facility’s toilet. The MCH authorities, who tended to Greeshma, informed the police that she was fit for discharge. The police later suspended two women constables tasked with Greeshma’s security.
