Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
A Madurai court, on Monday, April 6, pronounced the quantum of punishment for nine police personnel convicted in the Sathankulam custodial deaths case, sentencing all the nine accused to death.
The sentencing comes a week after the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai found all nine accused guilty for their role in the custodial torture and deaths of P Jeyaraj and his son J Benniks in June 2020.
“If ordinary citizens had committed the same crime, ordinary punishment could have been given, but the police themselves have committed the crime,” judge Muthukumaran said while passing the order.
The court had held that the case was a clear instance of custodial violence, with evidence showing that the father and son were brutally assaulted while in police custody. It had found Inspector S Sridhar to have instigated the assault, with other personnel participating in the violence and subsequent cover-up.
The convictions included charges of murder against all the accused, in addition to causing grievous hurt, fabricating evidence, and filing false cases.
Jeyaraj (58) and Benniks (31) were picked up by the police on June 19, 2020, allegedly for violating COVID-19 lockdown norms. They died days later at the Kovilpatti Government Hospital, with investigations later confirming severe custodial torture.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probed the case, had relied on forensic evidence, medical reports, and witness testimonies to establish that the assault inside the Sathankulam police station was sustained and brutal. Bloodstains found across the station and injuries documented in postmortem reports formed key evidence.
One of the accused, special sub-inspector Pauldurai, died during the course of the trial after contracting COVID-19.
The Sathankulam case had sparked widespread outrage across the country and became a key reference point in discussions on custodial violence and police accountability. With the sentencing now pronounced, the case moves into the final stage of trial proceedings.