AUTHOR: TINUMOL C K

INTRODUCTION

On 20th January 2025, the Additional District Sessions Court in Neyyattinkara, Kerala, awarded the death sentence to S.S. Grishma for murdering Sharon Raj from Parassala by luring him to consume a pesticide-laden Ayurvedic concoction in 2022. The Hon’ble Judge, A.M. Basheer, delivered a verdict convicting 24-year-old Grishma and sentencing her to rigorous imprisonment for a term of 10 years, along with a fine of ₹1 lakh under Section 364 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Additionally, Grishma was sentenced to five years of imprisonment and a fine of ₹50,000 under Section 328 of the IPC, as well as two years of imprisonment under Section 203 of the IPC.

CASE HISTORY

Grishma studied literature at a private college in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari district. The victim, Sharon Raj, a native of Parassala in the Thiruvananthapuram district, was a final-year BSc Radiology student at the same college. Both were in a close relationship for over a year before things turned sour.

Grishma wanted to end the relationship because she received a marriage proposal from a well-settled family, but Sharon was unwilling to accept the breakup. Even though Grishma claimed that her horoscope predicted her first husband would die after marriage, Sharon did not step back from the relationship. She then decided to murder Sharon.

Her first attempt was a "juice challenge" between Grishma and Sharon, where the first to finish their drink would win. In Sharon’s juice, she added a large amount of crushed paracetamol, but due to the extreme bitterness, he spat it out. Evidence shows that, before the day of the challenge, Grishma searched on Google more than 20 times about how paracetamol could be used as poison.

Her final and successful attempt involved mixing pesticides in Ayurvedic medicine (Kashayam). On the day of the incident, Grishma asked Sharon to visit her home. Grishma’s parents and uncle were aware of her plans, and her parents even facilitated the assassination. As Sharon was on his way to Grishma’s house with his friend Rigin, they saw Grishma’s parents leaving.

Inside the house, a conflict arose between Sharon and Grishma about her Ayurvedic medicine, as she refused to consume it due to its severe bitterness. She then challenged Sharon to drink it, claiming he would not be able to withstand its bitterness. Sharon consumed the entire bottle, which contained pesticides. Moments later, he vomited twice. After 15 minutes, he went outside to meet Rigin and vomited again, this time just water. When asked about it, he told Rigin that Grishma had betrayed him and that the Ayurvedic medicine contained something harmful, but he warned his friend not to tell anyone. Rigin then dropped Sharon at his house.

That evening, Sharon went to the hospital, where the doctor confirmed he had ingested poison. However, Sharon did not disclose to the doctor or his family that he had consumed Ayurvedic medicine given by Grishma. He survived for 11 days, and until his death, he refused to believe that Grishma had poisoned him.

Sharon’s brother grew suspicious of Grishma and called her to ask about the medicine Sharon had consumed, but she claimed she did not know its name. Sharon’s internal organs decomposed while he was still alive, and his inner tongue split.

Grishma’s uncle, Nirmalakumaran Nair, was also accused in the case for destroying evidence. The court sentenced him to three years of imprisonment and imposed a fine. However, Grishma’s mother was acquitted.

CONCLUSION

In its 586-page judgment, the court appreciated the police for conducting a thorough investigation and acquiring maximum evidence, particularly scientific evidence. The case was categorized as a "rarest of the rare" case. The court noted that the circumstances satisfied the essential criteria for awarding the capital sentence, as established in Bachan Singh vs. State of Punjab.