Jayaraj-Benicks custodial deaths: 9 Tamil Nadu cops get death sentence - ‘Heart shudders,’ says court

Nine policemen have been awarded death sentence by a court in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district in connection with six-year-old Jayaraj-Benicks custodial deaths case. The cops have been identified as Inspector Sridhar, Sub-Inspectors Balakrishnan and Raghu Ganesh, and police personnel Murugan, Samadurai, Muthuraja, Chelladurai, Thomas Francis, and Veilumuthu.

While pronouncing the death sentence to nine policemen, the district remarked that the “heart shudders reading about the case,” an NDTV report said.

The court underlined the “case of abuse of authority” and mentioned that the ruling would not instill fear in policemen as there are many honest cops in the force. “Father and son stripped, ruthlessly assaulted... Heart shudders reading about it,” the court said.

The custodial death case dates back to June 2020 when the father-son duo – P Jayaraj and his son J Bennicks – were arrested for allegedly keeping their shop open beyond the permitted hours during the lockdown. They were sent to judicial custody, but the duo died a few days later.

Earlier, Madurai First Additional District Court Judge Muthukumaran had earlier reserved the order on sentencing after hearing intense arguments from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the defense, and the emotional appeals made by the victims' family members.

All the accused were brought before the judge.

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 had argued that the nature of the crime, supported by the testimonies of three direct eyewitnesses, shocked the collective conscience of society. The CBI also highlighted the grave human rights violation.

The investigation agency also noted that the victims were subjected to merciless beatings with weapons, warranting the highest degree of punishment.

Both succumbed to grievous injuries sustained during brutal police torture, triggering widespread nationwide outrage. Their relatives alleged that both were beaten up and tortured throughout the night.

The CBI took over the investigation and filed a primary chargesheet of 2,027 pages. A supplementary chargesheet of 400 pages was also filed by the police. Over 100 witnesses were examined during the trial, which spanned more than five years. Today, on April 6, nine policemen were sentenced to death.

(With agency inputs)