A court in Tamil Nadu on Monday found nine police officers guilty of the custodial killing of a father and son at the Santhankulam police station in Thoothukudi district in June 2020, reported Live Law.

On June 18, 2020, the police arrested P Jeyaraj (58) and his son J Benniks (31) in Sattankulum for allegedly violating the Covid-19 lockdown rules, The Hindu reported.

They were taken to the police station, where they were beaten and tortured overnight.

The next day, they were remanded to judicial custody and sent to jail. Both developed serious health complications and were taken to the hospital. Benicks died on June 22, 2020 and Jayaraj died on June 23, 2020.

Their deaths triggered widespread protests and outrage about police brutality.

On Monday, Judge G Muthukumaran of the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai convicted inspector S Sridhar, sub-inspectors P Raghu Ganesh and K Balakrishnan, head constables S Murugan and A Saamidurai, and constables M Muthuraj, S Chelladurai, Thomas X and S Veilumuthu.

A tenth accused in the case, special sub-inspector Pauldurai, died after contracting Covid-19.

The sentencing will take place on March 30.

The bench also directed the Union and state governments to submit details of the health condition of the nine accused and their salary statements, along with other asset details, reported Live Law.

The court highlighted that the...

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