MADURAI: The 1st Additional District and Sessions Judge of Madurai, G Muthukumaran, concluded the hearing on the sentencing of nine policemen convicted in the Sathankulam custodial death case on Thursday and will be pronouncing the sentence on April 6.
The nine convicts – namely, then inspector S Sridhar, then sub inspectors P Ragu Ganesh and K Balakrishnan, then head constables S Murugan and A Samidurai and constables M Muthuraja, S Veil Muthu, S Chelladurai and X Thomas Francis – were found guilty of brutally torturing two traders – P Jeyaraj and his son Beniks – at Sathankulam police station in June 2020, resulting in their death.
According to the prosecution, Jeyaraj was arrested by the police on false charges that he kept his shop open beyond Covid-19 curfew hours. When Beniks went to the station requesting his father’s release, a quarrel ensued, following which the above policemen had brutally tortured the duo.
The CBI special public prosecutor, on Thursday, argued that the case had shocked society and falls within the rarest of rare category, warranting the death penalty or at least life imprisonment till death.
The counsels representing the convicts opposed the same, with one of them claiming that when Jeyaraj was arrested on June 19, 2020, the inquiry proceeded normally, just as any other case, until Beniks came to the station and created a problem. Only due to sudden provocation, the policemen had beaten the duo, and there was no premeditation in it, they added.
Stating that the case would not fall within the rarest of rare case category, they requested the court to impose lighter punishment, focusing on the reformation of the convicts.
However, the victim’s counsel pointed out that if the deceased had died due to a gunshot or knife wound, it could be claimed as an act committed by the convicts out of mere anger in the spur of the moment. But here the weapon used was a police lathi, and the convicts ought to have drained out their anger after 10 to 15 beatings.
However, they proceeded to beat the accused throughout the night, fully aware of the consequences of their actions, which indicates that they are beyond reformation, the counsel contended, and supported CBI’s argument for the death penalty. Jeyaraj’s wife, Selvarani, who was moved to tears, also narrated her plight and sought maximum punishment for the convicts.
Recording their submissions, the judge closed the hearing on sentencing and posted the matter on Monday for pronouncing the sentence.