Madurai, March 23 A local court here on Monday found all nine accused police officers guilty in the case of custodial torture of a man and his son, which led to their deaths in Sathankulam, Thoothukudi district in 2020.
Judge G Muthukumaran of the First Additional District and Sessions Court declared that the prosecution had proven its case and found the police officers guilty. The sentence for the convicted police officers will be announced on March 30, the judge said.
On June 19, 2020, mobile phone shop owner P Jayaraj (59) and his son J Benicks (31) were taken to the Sathankulam police station in connection with alleged violations of rules to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The father and son died on June 23 at the Kovilpatti sub-jail following alleged brutal custodial torture at the police station.
The case, which includes the charge of murder, against 10 police officers, including Inspector S Sridhar, Sub-Inspectors K Balakrishnan, P Raghuganesh, and Head Constables S Murugan and A Samidurai, was initially investigated by the CB-CID and later taken over by the CBI. The incident had caused a major public outcry in the state at the time.
There were 105 witnesses, including Selvarani (wife of Jeyaraj) and then Sathankulam police woman head constable R Revathi in the case. As many as 116 documents were marked, including the judicial inquiry reports on the deaths of Jayaraj and Benicks.
One of the accused, Special SI A Pauldurai, died during the pendency of the case, and 9 others, including Sridhar, remained in the Madurai Central Prison.
The CBI initially filed a chargesheet and later a supplementary report, which together was nearly 2,500 pages. Attempts by the accused to secure bail proved futile during the nearly 6-year-old trial of the case.
