Thoothukoodi custodial deaths: Father and son tortured brutally for 7 hours, says CBI

Chennai: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has submitted their report to Madras High Court on the custodial murder of the father and son in Sathankulam town near Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu.

Jayaraj(59) and his son Benniks (31) were arrested on 19th June '20 for allegedly keeping their shop open even after permitted hours as part of lockdown norms and misbehaving with cops. After the police took Jayaraj, his son who reached the police station was also arrested.

CBI gave gory details of the custodial torture in the report. It says, "It is evident from the expert opinion of CFSL, New Delhi that the blood available on the material objects seized from the police station Sathankulam - wooden lathis used by the accused persons for brutal torture of both the deceased and the bloodstains exhibits collected from the walls and floor of PS Sathankulam by FSL during judicial inquiry contain the blood of the deceased Bennicks and Jeyaraj on the same."

The report says that the two were subjected to severe beatings with lathi on their buttocks, back and other parts of the body. The charge sheet also accuses doctors of the Kovilpatti government hospital of certifying that the two were fit to be lodged in the local jail despite severe bleeding injuries. Postmortem report reveals that the two of them were brutally tortured for nearly seven hours with intervals. They died on 22nd and 23rd June at a government hospital.

Ten policemen were arrested, including Inspector S Sridhar and Pauldurai in the case. One of them died in August because of COVID-19.