TAMIL NADU, (India): It was a spine-chilling and horrific brutal torture resulting in the ghastly custody death of a father-son duo that sent shock waves across the country.
Nearly six years after the incident, a trial court in Madurai on Monday (March 23) found all the nine police personnel accused of the crime guilty and convicted them.
Pronouncing the verdict, First Additional District and Sessions judge G Muthukumaran found the nine cops guilty of causing the death of Jayaraj (59) and his son Bennix (31), running a mobile shop at Sathankulam in the Thoothukudi district.
The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on March 30, the judge said and directed the Union and state governments to submit details of the health condition of the nine accused and their salary statements along with the details of their assets.
On June 19, 2020, the father-son duo was picked up by the police for allegedly keeping their shop after 9pm in violation of Covid norms.
At the police station, they were brutally assaulted and tortured before being remanded to the Kovilpatti sub-jail the following day. While Bennix succumbed to the injuries on June 22, Jayaraj died the next day.
Their deaths due to police torture in custody created public outrage and a case was registered against the police personnel.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the case, the Madurai bench of Madras High Court transferred the case to the CBI-CID. Then, the AIADMK government of Edappadi K Palaniswami transferred it to the CBI, bowing to public pressure.
While finding the nine cops guilty, the judge affirmed the key findings of the CBI, noting the injuries on the deceased were ‘contrary to natural causes’ and indicated custodial torture.
The court also recorded that the duo’s hands were tied up while being repeatedly assaulted with third degree torture at 10-minute interval at the station.
The court also noted that, as per the CBI, the duo had not violated the lockdown norms yet a case was foisted on them.
Terming the incident one of the most disturbing cases of police brutality in recent Indian history, the judge underscored the need for police reforms.
The nine police personnel convicted are then Inspector S Sridhar, whose bail plea had already been rejected by the Madurai Bench, Sub-Inspectors P Raghu Ganesh and K Balakrishnan, head constables S Murugan and A Saamidurai, and constables M Muthuraj, S Chelladurai, X Thomas Francis, and S Velumuthu. - The Statesman/ANN
