Madurai court holds 9 policemen guilty in case of custodial torture leading to deaths of father-son

A court in Madurai on Monday held guilty all the nine accused policemen in the case of custodial torture of a man and his son, leading to their deaths at Sathankulam in Thoothukudi district in the year 2020.

The First Additional District and Sessions Court Judge G Muthukumaran declared that the prosecution had proven its case and held the policemen guilty of causing the death of the father-son. The quantum of sentence for the convicted policemen will be pronounced 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 Sathankulam police station in connection with an alleged violation of norms to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The father and son died on June 23 at Kovilpatti Sub Jail following alleged brutal custodial torture at the police station.

The case, which includes the charge of murder, against 10 policemen, including Inspector S Sridhar, Sub Inspectors K Balakrishnan, P Raghuganesh, Head Constables S Murugan and A Samidurai, was initially probed by the CB-CID and it was later taken over by the CBI.  The incident had caused a major public outrage in the state then.

There were 105 witnesses, including Selvarani (wife of Jeyaraj) then Sathankulam police woman head constable R Revathi in the case. As many as 116 documents were marked, which included 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, continued to be in Madurai Central Prison.

The CBI initially filed a chargesheet and later a supplementary report, which together was nearly 2,500 pages. Attempts of the accused to secure bail proved futile during the nearly 6-year-long trial of the case.

Daughter of deceased Jeyaraj, Persis, told reporters that the court has, in the judgment, said that her father and brother died due to the injuries inflicted on them by the 10 policemen.

Quoting the judgment, she said the policemen had beaten up her father and brother “all through the night and till early morning.”

Asked on the judgment citing policemen’s claim to “get trained by beating the father-son,” she said it showed that they were not at all humans. She demanded that the guilty be handed exemplary punishment, which would be a deterrent. “CBI did a good job,” she said. She, further said: “We were waiting for this day all these days. We think we have got justice. The punishment will be made known on March 30. We have faith in the judiciary. No other family must be affected like us.”

Jebasingh of Tirunelveli, an advocate on behalf of the victims’ family, said blood stains of victims from a van, (taken to transport them to jail) lathi and a table in the police station helped establish torture and prove the charges.

The court has sought from the state Government details of assets and last drawn salaries of the convicted policemen to slap a penalty on them. A report on the health condition of the accused/convicted policemen has also been sought by the court, he added.