The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday responded to the Madurai court’s verdict in the 2020 custodial death case of a father-son duo in Tamil Nadu, in which nine police officers from Sathankulam police station were sentenced to death.
The ruling comes nearly six years after P Jayaraj and his son J Penix were assaulted by police personnel in Sathankulam, Thoothukudi district, for keeping their mobile shop open in violation of coronavirus restrictions.
Read also | Sathankulam death in custody: Madurai court sentences 9 policemen to death, CBI says it has been given case for ‘fair’ investigation
What is the court ruling?
The court noted that by killing the father and son, the police had destroyed the foundation of an entire family. He stressed that the punishment must be strict enough to prevent such incidents in the future.
The court sentenced all nine convicted policemen to death. Those convicted include former inspector S Sridhar, former sub-inspectors Balakrishnan and Raghu Ganesh, and chief constables Murugan and Samidurai.
In addition to the death sentence, the court imposed a total fine of $100,000 $Rs 1.40 crore will be paid as compensation to the victims’ family.
What is the custodial death case in Tamil Nadu 2020?
In a 2020 HT report, Mahendran’s mother, Vadivu (65), in her affidavit, alleged that her son was picked up by Sub-Inspector Raghu Ganesh from Sathankulam police station on May 23 and tortured in connection with a murder case in which his brother Durai was a suspect. It also named Inspector Sridhar.
She confirmed that Mahendran, the construction worker, was not an accused in the case.
According to the affidavit, Raghu Ganesh and other policemen visited her house on May 22 while searching for Durai, the suspect in the May 18 murder of Jeyakumar in Bikolam.
On May 23, at around 2 a.m., the police arrived at Mahendran’s aunt’s house. “They dragged my younger son Mahendran outside and started brutally beating him all over his body, including his genitals,” the affidavit said.
“The policemen also attacked him in the head and he was injured in the head. Raghu Ganesh dragged him to the police station (Sathankulam) saying he will not be released unless Durai surrenders and keeps my son illegally.”
Read also | Two police officers have been named in case they are being investigated for another custodial murder
He was released from prison, and died one day later
Mahendran, who stayed with his mother in Bhikulam or his aunt in Papanakulam depending on his job, was released after a day from custody.
But his condition worsened, and on June 11, his mother took him to Thoothukudi Government Hospital after he complained of headache and inability to move his right hand. An examination revealed a brain injury and he died two days later.
“They are a very poor family and they were very afraid to go to the police to file an FIR or even seek a post-mortem report,” Mahendran’s uncle, M Perumal, told HT.
“As per medical reports, my son’s death was due to blood clot in his brain which occurred only due to the brutal attack by Raghu Ganesh and Inspector Sridhar (who was also arrested for Bennix’s murder),” Vadivu’s affidavit said.
Separately, the Crime Branch-CID has charged five policemen in connection with the deaths of Jayaraj and Pinnicks, who died on June 22 and 23 respectively. Five police officers were arrested on charges including unlawful confinement.
A father and son have been detained for allegedly keeping their mobile phone repair shop open after curfew hours imposed during the coronavirus lockdown.
The case was later transferred to the Central Bank of Iraq, which sent a team to undertake the investigation.
