Nearly six years after the alleged custodial torture and deaths of a father and son in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi district triggered nationwide outrage, a court in Madurai is set to deliver its verdict on March 23 in the sensational Sathankulam case.
The case pertains to the deaths of traders P Jeyaraj and his son J Beniks (also known as Bennix), who were arrested in June 2020 for allegedly keeping their mobile accessories shop open beyond permitted hours (8 pm) during the Covid-19 lockdown. The two were taken to the Sathankulam police station and later remanded to judicial custody. Within days, both died.
Their deaths sparked widespread anger across the country, with allegations of brutal custodial torture emerging from the family. Relatives alleged that the men were assaulted through the night at the police station, pointing to injuries including rectal bleeding and other signs of severe physical abuse.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which later took over the probe from the state's CB-CID following directions from the Madras High Court, arrested 10 policemen in connection with the case. Those arrested included an inspector, two sub-inspectors and several constables. The agency subsequently invoked murder charges against the accused officers.
During the investigation, a key development was the testimony of a woman constable who reportedly told investigators that the father and son were assaulted overnight and that there were blood stains on tables and lathis at the station. Investigators also faced challenges, including the deletion of crucial CCTV footage from the Sathankulam police station, as recordings were allegedly set to be erased automatically each day and were not preserved.
The case had cast a shadow over the then AIADMK government led by then Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, under whose tenure the incident occurred. Initially registered as cases of suspicious deaths by the local police, the matter was later treated as a case of alleged murder following the post-mortem findings and mounting public pressure.
Human rights activists had also raised questions about the role of officials who approved the judicial remand and certified the victims as fit, despite the alleged injuries.
As the Madurai court prepares to pronounce its verdict on March 23, the judgment is being closely watched as a test of accountability in custodial violence cases and a moment of reckoning in one of Tamil Nadu's most disturbing recent human rights episodes.
