A Tamil Nadu court on Monday found all nine accused policemen guilty in the custodial torture and death of a father and son in Sathankulam in 2020.The First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai delivered its verdict in the case related to the death of P Jayaraj and his son J Bennix, who died following alleged custodial torture in Sathankulam in Thoothukudi district in June 2020.Ten policemen were arrested in connection with the case, who were later suspended. The accused also include Inspector Sridhar; Sub-Inspectors Balakrishnan and Raghu Ganesh; Head Constables Murugan and A Samadurai; and constables M. Muthuraja, S. Chelladurai, X. Thomas Francis and S. Velmuthu, along with special sub-inspector Paldurai. After his arrest, he was kept in Madurai Central Jail.Paldurai later died of COVID-19.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the investigation, filed its charge sheet against the remaining nine policemen on September 25, 2020. After further investigation a supplementary chargesheet was submitted on August 12, 2022.The CBI said Bennix had gone to the Sathankulam police station after his father Jayaraj was detained and sought an explanation for the detention. According to the agency, a scuffle broke out between Bennix and the policemen, after which Inspector Sridhar reportedly intervened and directed the officers to teach him a lesson on “how to behave with the police”.The CBI alleged that both Jayaraj and Bennix were subjected to repeated torture in custody, during which their clothes were removed, adding to the cruelty.The investigation also found that the next morning, Sridhar allegedly directed a sweeper to clean the floors of the main hall and other areas of the police station in an attempt to destroy evidence. The agency said the victims’ blood-stained clothes were changed twice before being taken to the hospital and then changed again at the hospital before being produced for remand. The discarded clothes were reportedly thrown into the hospital dustbin to destroy evidence.The investigation further revealed that Jayaraj and Bennix had not violated the COVID-19 lockdown norms and there was no altercation between them and the police at Kamarajar Salai in Sathankulam on the evening of June 19. According to CBI, a false case was registered against two people.A total of 105 witnesses were examined in the case, including Jayaraj’s wife Selvarani and R Revathi, who was then serving as a woman head constable at the Sathankulam police station, as quoted by PTI.The court also examined 116 documents as evidence, including judicial inquiry reports related to the deaths of Jayaraj and Bennix.