A court in Madurai on Monday handed the death penalty to nine police personnel for the 2020 Sathankulam custodial deaths of father and son P. Jayaraj and J. Bennix.
The two men were assaulted by police in Sathankulam, Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu, after keeping their mobile shop open in violation of COVID-19 restrictions.
First additional district and sessions judge G. Muthukumaran described the case as the rarest of rare, noting that those entrusted with protecting the public had committed a crime that shook the collective conscience of society.
The convicts include former inspector S. Sridhar, former sub-inspectors Balakrishnan and Raghu Ganesh, and head constables Murugan and Saamidurai.
The court ordered them to pay Rs 1.40 crore in compensation to the victims’ family in addition to the death sentence.
While announcing the punishment, the judge said, "Police are meant to protect the common man, and when they become the perpetrators of such brutality, the law must act as a deterrent."
The court also observed, "By killing both the father and the son at once, police had uprooted the very foundation of a family." The judge added that the punishment must be severe enough to ensure such horrors never recur.
"The case dates back to June 19, 2020, wherein the accused police officials of Santhankulam PS had wrongfully confined P. Jeyraj. His son Benniks, who went to police station to enquire as to why his father was detained was also confined after some altercation," said a CBI spokesperson.
"Thereafter, the father and the son were mercilessly beaten and brutally tortured by the accused police officials on the intervening night of June 19 and 20, 2020," the spokesperson added.
"Benniks succumbed to injuries on 22nd and Jeyraj on 23rd June. The case was transferred to CBI for fair investigation by the Tamil Nadu government. After a thorough investigation, CBI filed charge sheet against... 9 accused persons within 90 days," the spokesperson said.
Over five years, 105 witnesses were examined. Of the initial 10 accused, special sub-inspector Pauldurai died during the trial due to health complications.