In a verdict on April 6, 2026, a special court in Madurai sentenced nine police personnel to death for the 2020 custodial killings of trader P. Jayaraj and his son J. Benniks.

The case, which shocked the nation, centred on the brutal torture of the father-son duo at the Sathankulam Police Station in Thoothukudi district, following their arrest for allegedly violating COVID-19 lockdown norms.

Key takeaways: 

Sentences Awarded: All nine convicted police personnel were sentenced to death.

Court Observation: Presiding Judge G. Muthukumaran termed the crime “rarest of rare,” observing that those entrusted with upholding the law committed an act that “shook the collective conscience of society.”

Compensation: The court directed the convicts to jointly pay ₹1.40 crore as compensation to the victims’ family.

Accused Officers: Those convicted include former Inspector S. Sridhar, Sub-Inspectors P. Ragu Ganesh and K. Balakrishnan, along with six other personnel—Murugan, Samidurai, Muthuraja, Chelladurai, Thomas Francis, and Veilumuthu.

Note on Tenth Accused: A tenth policeman, Special Sub-Inspector Pauldurai, died of COVID-19 during the trial in 2020.

A sociological analysis of the incident:

The brutality of this incident surpasses all primitive barbarity. Here ten people from different cultural backgrounds have committed this heinous crime together. But why? These are not relatives, friends, neighbours, who are likely to have similar thoughts. Colleagues come together for work reasons, so there is no reason for a common mindset. So it is natural that if two/three or five/six people commit a crime, the rest will stop them, in this case, the entire staff except one female constable indulged in inhumane acts. Moreover, Senior police officials, including D. Kumar and C. Prathapan, was accused of deliberately delaying the evidence collection process. This is a sign of terrible social degradation and India’s fragile judicial system.

Friends gathered outside the police station when the victims were being killed inside the locked door. There was no one to help them, nor was there any judicial authority they could approach to save their friends.

So there is no reason to celebrate the verdict as a big justice. Criminals got punishment, but victims were not heard when they were calling the world for help. It would have been fair if we could have saved Jayaraj and his son.