Madurai District Court: The Single Judge Bench of First Additional District Judge, G. Muthukumaran determined that a custodial death case under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation was an obvious case of abuse of authority and fell into the rarest of the rare cases; all accused were found guilty of murder and evidence destruction.
The case from the deaths of a father and son in custody Sathankulam Police Station, Tamil Nadu, which sparked intense public indignation and national media coverage. The deceased were illegally detained after being captured by Sathankulam Police Station officers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CBI called 135 witnesses throughout the trial, questioned 52 witnesses, and advocated for the harshest sentence possible. It was argued that the occurrence was a flagrant breach of human rights and a serious misuse of police power that had shook society’s conscience. The prosecution also proved that the defendants tried to manufacture documents and destroy evidence in order to protect themselves, in addition to causing fatal injuries.
All nine of the defendants were found guilty of crimes, including murder and evidence destruction, during the five-year trial. The Court determined that there had been a blatant and severe abuse of power and sentenced all nine of the accused police officers to death. As a result, the Court determined that the current case qualified as one of the “rarest of the rare” situations, justifying the death penalty.
