What is the Sattankulam father-son custodial torture death case all about? | Explained
The Hindu
Explore the Sattankulam custodial torture deaths of P. Jayaraj and his son J. Benicks, revealing a shocking tale of police brutality.
The story so far: Nearly six years after trader P. Jayaraj (58) and his son J. Benicks (31) died of custodial torture at the Sattankulam Police Station in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu, the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai convicted all nine police personnel accused in the case on March 23, 2026. Judge G. Muthukumaran will pronounce the quantum of sentence on April 6.
The horrific crime took place in June 2020 during the countrywide COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. It shocked civil society and sparked widespread protests.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court took suo motu cognisance of the crime by the police and passed a slew of directions. The then AIADMK government transferred the probe in the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In all, 10 police personnel were named as accused in the case. One of them died after contracting COVID-19. The CBI has prosecuted nine police personnel.
On June 19, 2020, Jayaraj, who was in his son Benicks’s mobile phone sales and service showroom, was picked up by the police for allegedly violating COVID-19 lockdown rules.
It is said that on June 18, 2020, at night, when a few workers in a nearby shop were waiting for their wages, the police verbally abused them and asked them to leave. Jayaraj heard from the workers about the verbal abuse and had asked them to stay for a few more minutes. This information was passed on by a police head constable to his colleagues.
The next day, in the evening, the police picked up Jayaraj from the shop. On seeing this, Benicks rushed to the Sattankulam police station and appealed to the police to release his father. Jayaraj was verbally and physically abused by the police in the station. Benicks intervened. Later, they were both tortured at the police station by the police personnel the entire night. They sustained serious injuries.
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