Madurai, Apr 3:
A district court on Thursday deferred the pronouncement of the quantum of sentence for nine police personnel convicted in the sensational 2020 Sathankulam double custodial death case of a father-son duo to April 6.
Madurai First Additional District Court Judge Muthukumaran reserved the order on sentencing after hearing intense arguments from the CBI, the defense, and the emotional appeals made by the victims’ family members.
The nine convicted policemen — Inspector Sridhar, Sub-Inspectors Balakrishnan and Raghu Ganesh, and police personnel Murugan, Samadurai, Muthuraja, Chelladurai, Thomas Francis, and Veilumuthu — were produced before the judge amid tight security.
Terming the brutal custodial torture and subsequent death of traders P Jayaraj and his son J Bennicks as the “rarest of rare” cases, the CBI counsel pressed for the maximum penalty of a death sentence or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The prosecution argued that the ghastly nature of the crime, supported by the testimonies of three direct eyewitnesses, shocked the collective conscience of society. Highlighting the grave human rights violation, the CBI noted that the victims were subjected to merciless beatings with weapons, warranting the highest degree of punishment.
Jayaraj and Bennicks were taken into custody by the Sathankulam police in Thoothukudi district on June 19, 2020, for allegedly violating Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. Both succumbed to grievous injuries sustained during brutal police torture, triggering widespread nationwide outrage.
The CBI took over the investigation and filed a primary chargesheet of 2,027 pages and a supplementary chargesheet of 400 pages. Over 100 witnesses were examined during the trial, which spanned more than five years