A court in Tamil Nadu on Monday found nine police officers guilty of the custodial killing of a father and son at the Santhankulam police station in Thoothukudi district in June 2020, reported Live Law.
On June 18, 2020, the police arrested P Jeyaraj (58) and his son J Benniks (31) in Sattankulum for allegedly violating the Covid-19 lockdown rules, The Hindu reported.
They were taken to the police station, where they were beaten and tortured overnight.
The next day, they were remanded to judicial custody and sent to jail. Both developed serious health complications and were taken to the hospital. Benicks died on June 22, 2020 and Jayaraj died on June 23, 2020.
Their deaths triggered widespread protests and outrage about police brutality.
On Monday, Judge G Muthukumaran of the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai convicted inspector S Sridhar, sub-inspectors P Raghu Ganesh and K Balakrishnan, head constables S Murugan and A Saamidurai, and constables M Muthuraj, S Chelladurai, Thomas X and S Veilumuthu.
A tenth accused in the case, special sub-inspector Pauldurai, died after contracting Covid-19.
The sentencing will take place on March 30.
The bench also directed the Union and state governments to submit details of the health condition of the nine accused and their salary statements, along with other asset details, reported Live Law.
The court highlighted that the injuries on Jeyaraj and his son were unnatural, while noting that the post-mortem reports said they were caused by repeated assault, the legal news outlet reported.
The judge also rejected the arguments that the injuries were self-inflicted. It could not be said that the death was caused by illness, despite Jayaraj’s history of heart ailment, the court held. It concluded that the two men were murdered, Live Law reported.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had taken suo moto cognisance of the case, ordered a judicial inquiry and began monitoring the matter. The state government later transferred the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI had also prosecuted the nine police officers.
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