Madurai, Tamil Nadu, April 7 – IPU Media Update News : The First Additional District Sessions Court in Madurai has delivered a landmark verdict in the 2020 Sathankulam custodial death case involving a father and son a case that had sent shockwaves across the nation. Finding them guilty in this case, the court has sentenced nine police personnel to death (imposing a double death sentence).
★ what exactly happened in Sathankulam in 2020 -?
Jeyaraj (58) and his son Beniks (31), residents of Sathankulam in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district, ran a local mobile phone shop.
On June 19, 2020, police from the Sathankulam station in Thoothukudi district brought Jeyaraj and his son Beniks to the station on allegations that they had kept their shop open during the COVID-19 lockdown.
At the station, Beniks intervened when he saw the police beating his father. Consequently, he too was arrested. Subsequently, the police subjected both men to torture throughout the night. The following morning, they attempted to destroy evidence by having a sanitation worker clean up the bloodstains. Subsequently, the police registered cases against the father and son under five different sections; they produced both men in court and transferred them to the Kovilpatti Sub-Jail. Later, while undergoing treatment for severe injuries at the Kovilpatti Government Hospital, Beniks passed away on June 22, followed by his father, Jayaraj, who breathed his last the very next day. As these deaths occurred while the victims were in police custody, they sparked intense outrage and unrest in the Sathankulam region. Trade associations voluntarily shut down their shops and staged large-scale protests.
★ Madras High Court Orders CBI Inquiry
Taking “suo motu”cognizance of the case, the Madras High Court directed the CBI to take up the investigation. The CBI registered cases against a total of 10 police personnel, including the then-Inspector of Sathankulam, Sridhar, and Sub-Inspectors Balakrishnan and Raghu Ganesh. During the course of the investigation, one of the police officers passed away due to COVID-19. The CBI inquiry revealed that the victims had not violated any lockdown regulations and that the police had registered false cases against them. The investigation further disclosed that the victims were forced to use their own clothes to wipe away the blood flowing from their injuries. The CBI filed its chargesheet in September 2020 and submitted an additional chargesheet to the court in 2022. Initially, the State Police had investigated this case; however, following the directives of the High Court, the case was subsequently transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). CBI officials conducted a comprehensive investigation and filed a 2,500-page chargesheet. The trial in this case proceeded for over five years at the Madurai District First Additional Sessions Court. Based on the evidence gathered, the Madurai District Court, which conducted the inquiry, convicted nine police personnel on the 23rd of last month.
★ CBI sought the imposition of the death penalty for the convicts.
The High Court stated that the details regarding the sentencing would be announced on March 30. However, during the hearing on March 30, the judge directed both the Central and State governments to submit reports regarding the appropriate punishment to be imposed on the convicts. Subsequently, on April 2, reiterating its arguments, the CBI once again requested that the death penalty be awarded to the convicts. Family members of Jayaraj and Beniks also pleaded for severe punishment specifically the death penalty or double life imprisonment to be meted out to the convicts. Consequently, Judge G. Muthukumaran, who presided over the trial, observed that the father,son duo Jayaraj (58) and Beniks (31) who had no prior criminal record, were brutally beaten while in police custody. It is a matter of record that on March 23, the court delivered its verdict, convicting a total of nine police officers in this case, which was registered under Sections 342, 195, 211, 218, and 302 (read with Sections 109 and 34) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court delivered a verdict identifying the then Station Inspector, two Sub-Inspectors (SIs), two Head Constables, and four Constables as the accused, and sentenced them to death. The judgment pronounced the police personnel guilty of the charges. In fact, while a murder case was originally registered against a total of 10 police personnel, one of them Special Sub-Inspector (SSI) Pauldurai passed away due to COVID-19. The Madurai court has now handed down the death penalty to the remaining nine individuals.
★ Verdict
The First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai found them guilty on March 23 and pronounced the death sentence on April 6, 2026, highlighting “abuse of authority”.
★ Case Background
The CBI investigation revealed the victims were tortured, with Judge G. Muthukumaran noting the police acted against the law they were meant to uphold.
★ 9 Police Personnel Sentenced to Death
Those sentenced include Inspector S. Sridhar; Sub-Inspectors P. Raghu Ganesh and K. Balakrishnan, Head Constables S. Murugan and A. Samadurai, as well as Constables M. Muthuraj, S. Chelladurai, X. Thomas Francis, and S. Velumuthu. The tenth accused, Special Sub-Inspector Pauldurai, died of COVID-19 during the course of the trial.
★ Court Has Delivered Justice to Us in This Case
Percy, a family member of the victims, expressed her satisfaction with the court’s verdict. The court has delivered justice to us in this case. We had complete faith in the judiciary. No one else should ever have to endure the kind of suffering we have gone through. This is precisely what we have been fighting for all this time. We hope that such incidents will never be repeated, she stated.
— M Venkata T Reddy, News Editor and Investigative Journalist
