Thiruvananthapuram: The meticulous investigation by the police and the strong evidence presented in the Sharon murder case were pivotal in ensuring the harshest punishment for the accused. Greeshma, the prime suspect, confessed to the crime after her close associate, an Ayurvedic physiotherapist who accompanied her for questioning, faltered under police interrogation. Following her suicide attempt, Greeshma’s subsequent confession in her dying declaration to a magistrate, further strengthened the case. Initially, Greeshma tried to mislead the investigation team. However, she eventually disclosed all details.

“Do you want to go home or to jail?”

Following Sharon’s death, the police summoned Greeshma, her mother and the Ayurvedic physiotherapist for questioning. Greeshma and the physiotherapist were interrogated separately. Initially, Greeshma denied mixing poison into the herbal concoction she gave Sharon. However, the team led by M K Sulfikar began questioning the physiotherapist by asking, “Do you want to go home or to jail?”

This approach led the physiotherapist to reveal everything, without omission, including details about the murder attempts. Greeshma had previously shared with her about the infamous “juice challenge”, where she laced juice with poison. After a joint interrogation of Greeshma and the physiotherapist, the police formally arrested Greeshma.

“Evidence left by God”

A video of the “juice challenge”, which investigators referred to as “evidence left by God”, became a critical piece of evidence. Greeshma had given Sharon juice laced with nearly 60 paracetamol tablets. Although Greeshma had asked Sharon not to record the challenge, he did so, and the video proved invaluable to the police.

Recovery of thousands of deleted chats 

Greeshma arrived for questioning with her phone wiped of evidence. However, forensic analysis helped the police to recover data, including approximately 2,000 chats exchanged over just four days, with up to 40 messages sent per minute. Police also retrieved her email records, Google searches and YouTube history, revealing that she had researched the use of poison.

Confession following suicide attempt

During the investigation, Greeshma attempted suicide by ingesting a bathroom cleaning solution. Following this, a magistrate recorded her dying declaration, where she voluntarily disclosed all the details of the crime. This confession proved crucial to the investigation team, helping solidify the case against her.