WOMEN ON DEATH ROW

Greeshma's death penalty highlights rare instances of women receiving capital punishment in India's criminal justice history.

- Ruchira Talapatra

In January 20, 2025, the Neyyat0% tinkara Additional Sessions Court in Kerala sentenced Greeshma, a 24-year-old literature student, to death for the calculated poisoning of her boyfriend, Sharon Raj.

The judgment catapulted her into the spotlight as the youngest woman in Kerala to receive the death penalty, underscoring a grave and somber moment in India's judicial history.

Greeshma's act, motivated by personal gains and deceit, represents a rare instance of a woman receiving the capital sentence in a country where such rulings against women are extremely uncommon.

India, despite its retention of capital punishment for the "rarest of rare cases, has historically reserved its ultimate penalty for only a small number of women. The judicial principle often considers gender, social factors, and the presence of mitigating circumstances while handing down sentences, making women on death row an exception rather than the norm.

Yet, there have been instances over the years, as in Greeshma's case, where the heinousness and premeditated nature of crimes have overcome considerations of age, gender, or social background, leading courts to affirm that justice demands the gravest punishment.

Neelam Kaur (Punjab, 2024)

CASE SUMMARY: Convicted of kidnapping and burying alive a two-and-a-half-year-old child, Dilroz Kaur, following disputes with the victim's family.

The motive was revenge against her neighbors who reprimanded her sons.

Charges: Murder.

TIMELINE: Incident: November 28, 2021.

Arrest and Confession: Confronted with CCTV evidence soon after the crime.

Trial: Completed by 2024 with sentencing by Sessions Judge Munish Singal.

Court's Observation: The act was deemed barbaric and executed with premeditation.