On October 28, 2022, a 22 year-old Greeshma opened Google on her Redmi phone and searched "how to open back up data in google drive", "how to view back up WhatsApp messages in google drive" and "how to retrieve deleted messages on WhatsApp"..Three days prior, on October 25, her boyfriend Sharon had breathed his last after having spent several days in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital with multiple organ failure. .Little did Greeshma know then that her google searches for deleting information backed up to the cloud, along with other online searches, would one day, lead to her conviction for killing Sharon.When she was arrested two days later on October 30, she had no choice but to hand over that now infamous orange Redmi phone to the police.It was while she was in jail that she perhaps realised how much trouble she was in. On December 1, she attempted to take her own life.And today, Greeshma has the unfortunate distinction of being the youngest woman ever sentenced to death in Kerala. Less than two years ago she had "married" Sharon, albeit only ceremoniously. Her actual marriage was later fixed with another man. But Sharon refused to let go which is believed to have prompted her to commit the gravest of crimes. .Much of the 588-page judgment passed yesterday by the Neyyattinkara Additional Sessions Court Judge AM Basheer focuses on the digital evidence."Just like the action of a person picking up a stone to throw an object, in the primitive ages would unravel his preparation and intention to make the throw, a person’s online searches and digital foot print on the cyberspace, regarding a particular object, throws light on his propensity regarding the things searched. If a person searches for a new model of a car in the internet, it reveals his interest, or his preparation to purchase the said car. Likewise, if a person searches the internet and YouTube how to poison a person by administering overdose of paracetamol by mixing it with juice by deceitful means and also mix paraquat herbicide with kashayam, her preparation and intention to commit the offence of murder is crystal clear", the judge explained. The Court said that in cases built exclusively on circumstantial evidence, as is this case, a person's digital footprint brings much evidentiary value to establish the motive for the crime."The active and passive digital footprint of a person is a guide to identify his mindset," the Court said. .In metaphorical way of saying ,the God in the cloud saved the data of crime.Kerala Court.The Court went to the extent of saying that it was the "God in the cloud" that saved the data which proved Greeshma's guilt. "The greater her knowledge of poisons, the greater the secrecy, and consequently the greater the difficulty of proving the case against him in some cases. But, it does not mean that a crime committed in secrecy or inside the house should go unpunished. Greeshma killed Sharon inch by inch. Let me conclude this judgment, in metaphorical way of saying ,the God in the cloud saved the data of crime. Based on the principle Dr Edmond Locard that one can not leave the place of crime without leaving the trace of evidence, Greeshma carried the evidence with her in her mobile phone and she stored everything in the cloud.".Greeshma killed Sharon inch by inch.Kerala Court.Internet Search History.The most damning of Greeshma's digital footprint was three sets of searches made from her phone on which she was logged into her google account. The evidence presented in court showed that Greeshma had clicked on links to drugs.com, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, patient.info. .August 22, 2022 From 5:34 am to 7:07 am, Greeshma googled flavoxate and paracetamol interactions. She seemingly read about the side effects of paracetamol overdose, what not to mix with paracetamol, substances used in a suicide by overdose in Toronto, paracetamol overdose in suicide attempts etc. In total she was found to have made 23 searches from her phone on the subject in that hour and a half. The same day, Greeshma was seen on CCTV and a personal video on Sharon's phone handing him a tetrapack of Slice juice. But Sharon found the juice to be too bitter and spat it out. "An ordinary prudent man will not make 23 searches spending about two hours before taking paracetamol for fever. She being post graduate need not do such a search except for the purpose of the motive which she formed in her mind", the Court said. Notably, the police never charged Greeshma with attempt to murder. However, the Court opined that these alleged events must be taken into account while considering the question of sentence as it shows premeditation on her part. .October 14, 2022At 7:24 am, Greeshma googled kapiq herbicide and its scientific name, paraquat. She seemingly visited pages that would have informed her about its toxicity, the gradual and excruciating death it promises if it is not detected in the first few days, its use in suicides and murders, the 1985 paraquat murders in Japan, its use by a woman in the UK in 1981 to kill her husband, and the murders by American serial killer Steven David Catlin who murdered two of his wives and his adoptive mother with paraquat between 1976 and 1984.Less than 20 minutes later, she messaged Sharon and invited him home.Once he reached, Greeshma allegedly gave him a mix of an Ayurvedic kashayam and kapiq herbicide, a bottle of which she had found at home, and goaded Sharon into drinking it.He vomited almost immediately, kept vomiting on his way back, and got multiple treatments from hospital, but none for paraquat poisoning. On October 25, Sharon breathed his last. .October 28, 2022 By the 28th, the police had already visited Greeshma's house and she likely knew that she would be interrogated soon and her devices seized. This is when she made all the searches on how to retrieve and delete backed up WhatsApp messages.She deleted several messages between her and Sharon but the police were soon able to retrieve them "This is an important circumstance because Greeshma wanted to conceal the evidence of crime....It is proved that Greeshma deleted objectionable messages and she was eager to know whether Police will seize her mobile, open back up data, retrieve the deleted whatsapp messages and view messages which she deleted to conceal the evidence of crime," the Court said. .Retrieved WhatsApp messages.The deleted WhatsApp messages and voice notes between Sharon and Greeshma tilted the balance heavily to the Court's guilty verdict. The Court noted that Greeshma induced Sharon to come to her house by promising him sex and that she had repeatedly called him to make sure he would come over on the 14th. The Court also noted that the messages exchanged between the ill-fated couple after Sharon began to experience the after effects of the poisoning, showed that Greeshma wanted to know the progress of poison.On subsequent days, Greeshma sent several messages in which she seemed to be apologising to Sharon. "One hour and 80 minutes after the execution of the target, Greeshma sent 'sorry' to Sharon," the Court noted. .All of this invisible data, stored safely on the cloud, led the Court to conclude that Greeshma was guilty of murdering Sharon..The active and passive digital footprint of a person is a guide to identify his mindset.Kerala Court.Notably, even though the case was entirely built up on circumstantial evidence, the Court opined that Greeshma deserves the death penalty..While Greeshma cited several factors as mitigating circumstances such as her young age, her education, her lack of criminal antecedents, her parents' dependency, the Court opined that there were far more aggravating factors. The Court noted that Sharon was also a young man who was put through a tortuous ordeal before his life came to an end. Sharon's father suffered a stroke after his son's death leading to partial paralysis. Sharon too had dreams and ambitions, the Court said. But Sharon's fate was to be killed by the woman he loved."An innocent young boy was brutally exterminated. The convict killed not only the friend, but the concept of honest, pure and sincere love offered by a college student," the Court said. .The Court opined that the premeditation on Greeshma's part, her first unsuccessful attempt to poison him and her decision to administer a poison that she allegedly knew would cause an excruciating death, all go to show that she cannot be reformed. "The convict had ‘devilish thought’ in her mind because only cunning and cruel criminal can repeat the offence. Such a person cannot be reformed. There is no guarantee that she will not mix poison again in any other relationship, if she got mixed with society," the Court said. .The convict had ‘devilish thought’ in her mind because only cunning and cruel criminal can repeat the offence.Kerala Court.In light of these circumstances, among others, the Court observed that death sentence alone would be proper and legal. "The gravity of the offence on the society is unparallel", the Court said in its judgment. .Greeshma is expected to move the Kerala High Court challenging the verdict. .[Read Judgment]
