Sathankulam case: HC orders notice to nine convicts

Madurai: Madras high court on Friday ordered notice to nine policemen who were sentenced to death by a trial court in connection with the custodial deaths of P Jeyaraj and his son J Beniks in Sathankulam in Tuticorin district in 2020.A division bench of justice N Anand Venkatesh and justice K K Ramakrishnan ordered notice to the nine convicts while hearing a referred trial case to confirm the death sentence awarded by the trial court. The matter was posted for hearing on April 30.On April 6, first additional district and sessions judge G Muthukumaran imposed the death sentence on all the nine convicted cops -- S Sridhar, K Balakrishnan, P Raghu Ganesh, S Murugan and A Samadurai, M Muthuraja, S Chelladurai, X Thomas Francis and S Vailmuthu.Nearly six years after a father-son duo were tortured and killed by Sathankulam police while in custody, the trial court in Madurai found all the nine police personnel guilty of the double murder on March 23. The 10th suspect, the then special sub-inspector Paldurai, who too was arrested, died of Covid-19 in Aug 2020.