9 Tamil Nadu Police personnel sentenced to death for Sathankulam Father-Son custodial killing

Holding police accountable for the crime, the high court bench termed it a "rarest of rare" crime defined by shocking brutality and abuse of authority.

The Madurai bench of the Tamil Nadu High Court on Monday, in a landmark ruling, sentenced Nine Tamil Nadu police personnel to death in 2020 Sathankulam Father-Son custodial torture killing.

Holding police accountable for the crime, the high court bench termed it a "rarest of rare" crime defined by shocking brutality and abuse of authority.

After six-years of trial, Judge G Muthukumaran convicted all nine accused of murder and related charges in the deaths of trader P Jayaraj (59) and his son J Benniks (31).

The court endorsed the CBI's argument that the custodial torture was premeditated, executed overnight, and justified the maximum penalty.

The convicted personnel include Inspector S Sridhar, Sub-Inspectors P Raghu Ganesh and K Balakrishnan, Head Constables S Murugan and A Samadurai, and Constables M Muthuraj, S Chelladurai, X Thomas Francis, and S Veilumuthu.

The tenth accused, Special Sub-Inspector Pauldurai, died of COVID-19 during the trial.

In June 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, P Jayaraj and his son Benniks were picked up by police for operating their mobile accessories shop past the COVID-19 lockdown curfew hours.

After the death of the Father-son duo, investigators confirmed sustained torture at Sathankulam police station, causing severe injuries, including blunt-force trauma and heavy bleeding. Both men died in custody at Kovilpatti sub-jail on June 22 and 23, fueling public outrage and demands for justice.

The incident triggered massive outrage, calling for action and holding people accountable for abuse of power.

The judicial magistrate's report documented 18 serious injuries on the victims' bodies, while a three-doctor postmortem confirmed Benniks died from complications of blunt injuries sustained during custodial torture.

After outrage and public outcry, the Madras High Court took suo motu cognizance and handed the case to the CBI on June 29, 2020.

The probe revealed that officers tried to destroy evidence post-assault and filed a false case to conceal the crime.

The CBI determined that the accused, sharing a common intent, inflicted grievous injuries, aware of their likely fatal outcome.

The custodial deaths triggered arrests of 10 police officials and sparked intense political scrutiny, highlighting grave concerns over custodial violence and police accountability nationwide.