A bench of Madras High Court in Madurai on Monday sentenced nine Tamil Nadu police personnel to death in the 2020 Sathankulam custodial killing case, terming it a “rarest of rare” crime marked by extreme brutality and abuse of power.
Delivering the verdict after a six-year trial, Judge G Muthukumaran held all nine accused guilty of murder and related offences in the deaths of trader P Jayaraj, 59, and his son J Benniks, 31. The court accepted the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) contention that the custodial torture was premeditated and carried out through the night, warranting the maximum punishment.
Those convicted 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. A tenth accused, special sub-inspector Pauldurai, died of COVID-19 during the trial.
The case had triggered nationwide outrage in 2020. Jayaraj and Benniks were picked up on June 19 for allegedly keeping their mobile accessories shop open in violation of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Investigators later found that they were subjected to sustained torture inside the Sathankulam police station, suffering severe injuries, including blunt-force trauma and heavy bleeding.
The report said that Jayaraj was picked up around 7:30 pm on June 19 from Kamarajar Chowk, and Benniks followed the police to the station upon learning of his father’s detention.
The judicial magistrate’s report recorded 18 serious injuries on the bodies of the victims, while the final postmortem report by a team of three doctors confirmed that Benniks died of complications arising from blunt injuries sustained during custodial torture.
Please note: The information to follow may be deeply upsetting as it details the sheer brutality of the torture meted out to Jayaraj and Benniks.
The brutality is said to have gone on for several hours, and it is said that the two victims were stripped to increase the intensity of the beating. Describing the modus operandi, the chargesheet said, "Both Jayaraj and Benniks, turn by turn, were made to bow down on a wooden table in underwear only. Their hands and legs were held on hold by accused police officials so that they were not able to defend themselves. While holding them in that position, they were subjected to severe beatings with a lathi on their buttocks, back and other parts of the body." Their lungis had to be changed multiple times as they were soaked in blood.
The CBI also noted that Jayaraj had pleaded with officers to stop the assault, citing his medical conditions, including blood pressure and diabetes.
The victims were allegedly forced to clean their own blood from the floor, while blood-stained clothes were discarded.
According to the probe, the officers attempted to destroy evidence after the assault. A false case was registered to cover up the crime. Both men died days later in custody at the Kovilpatti sub-jail on June 22 and 23, intensifying public anger and calls for accountability.
Then, while handing over the lathi, Maharajan said, “You can't touch us." The magistrate also said that the police officials were reluctant to hand over their lathis and made several excuses and one of them even escaped from the station.
During the probe, many of the police officials kept recording videos on their phones and trying to intimidate the judicial team.
The agency concluded that the accused, acting with common intention, inflicted severe injuries knowing the likely fatal consequences. The custodial deaths led to the arrest of 10 police officials and drew intense political attention, raising serious concerns about custodial violence and police accountability in the country.
Source: India Today