Greeshma youngest woman to get death penalty in state

T'puram: The 586-page judgement by Neyyattinkara additional sessions court made history on Monday as Greeshma is the youngest woman in Kerala to receive a death sentence. She was just 22-years-old at the time of Sharon Raj's murder in Oct 2022. She is the second woman in Kerala to get the capital punishment and the 40th convict awaiting the death sentence here. Greeshma can still approach the high court and challenge the death sentence.Earlier, the same court had sentenced a 55-year-old woman to death for the murder at Mulloor near Vizhinjam. The court had convicted Rafeeqa Beevi for killing Santhakumari, an elderly woman, to rob her gold jewellery at her residence. Rafeeqa, her son Shafiq and friend Al Ameen were sentenced to death a year ago by the same court and the same judge. The crime occurred on Jan 14, 2022.Rafeeqa invited her neighbour Santhakumari to visit her home. Police later found that Santhakumari was bludgeoned with a hammer and her body was kept hidden. During interrogation, police unearthed her murder.Another win for special public prosecutorWith Monday's verdict, Vineeth Kumar secured the death penalty in the four cases he served as the prosecutor. With a PhD in law, Kumar's success is attributed to his experience as a criminal lawyer and prosecutor in numerous cases. His precision in witness examination, expertise in criminal law and unique style of argumentation are his hallmarks.The state govt appointed him as the special public prosecutor in sensational cases such as Varkala Salim murder case, Harihara Varma murder case, Attingal double murder case (Nino Mathew & Anu Shanthi case) and Koliyoor Maryadas murder case.In three consecutive cases, he ensured that the defendants received the death penalty, earning special commendations from the police chiefs and courts. His wife is Sandhya Vineeth and their elder son Saneeth Kumar is an engineer while their second son advocate Navaneeth Kumar practises in Thiruvananthapuram courts.