All Kerala Men's Association to hold milk pouring ritual lauding judge who sentenced Greeshma to death

The All Kerala Men's Association (AKMA) will be honouring Neyyattinkara Additional Sessions Court Judge AM Basheer for his recent verdict sentencing 24-year-old Greeshma for the murder of her boyfriend, Sharon Raj. .While the judgment is being questioned by many including former High Court judges for its rationale in imposing the death penalty, AKMA is planning to celebrate the verdict on January 22 by pouring milk on a cutout of judge Basheer as part of paal abhishekam, a religious rite where milk is poured on a deity or an image of a deity.The cutout will be kept outside the State Secretariat at Thiruvananthapuram. The association also plans on bursting firecrackers at the event.A press release issued by the association states that the event will be inaugurated by right-wing activist and public commentator Rahul Easwar. .Interestingly, they also plan to protest retired Kerala High Court judge Justice Kemal Pasha who openly critiqued the judgment as being excessive. The former judge had stated that the judgment violates the principles that have been laid down by the Supreme Court over the years regarding imposition of death sentence. .Sharon Raj Murder: How cloud data got girlfriend Greeshma the death penalty .The judgment in question found Greeshma guilty of murdering her boyfriend, Sharon Raj, by poisoning him with a fatal dose of a herbicide. It was alleged that Greeshma, wanting to end the relationship after her family arranged her marriage to another man, conspired with her mother and uncle to kill Sharon.On October 14, 2022, Sharon visited Greeshma at her residence where she allegedly gave him an Ayurvedic tonic laced with the poison.The case sparked widespread outrage, leading to an in-depth investigation by a Crime Branch special investigation team led by DySP Johnson.Greeshma was arrested on October 31, 2022, followed by her mother and uncle..In a 588-page-judgment, the trial court found Greeshma guilty under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting to murder), 328 (causing hurt by poison), 302 (punishment for murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of IPC.The Court proceeded to impose death penalty on her.In his ruling, Judge Basheer highlighted the highly secretive and premeditated nature of Greeshma's actions.The judge said that Greeshma chose a time when her family was away and administered the poison in a way that made it difficult to detect.The Court relied heavily on digital evidence collected from Greeshma's devices and backups to the cloud to arrive at its guilty verdict on the case which was made entirely on the basis of circumstantial evidence.Many in the public and legal circles have called to question the decision to impose the death penalty. To do so, as per precedents, the court has to find that the crime would fall in the "rarest of the rare" category. While judge Basheer opined that the nature of the crime warrants the death penalty, most have expressed reservations with the finding. The decision stood in stark contract to a judgment passed on the same day by a court in West Bengal refusing to impose the death penalty on the prime accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case. This disparity has also been noted by many who have called into question the rationale of both judgments.