NEW DELHI, April 7 -- An Indian court has sentenced nine policemen to death for the torture and killing of a father and son in 2020 who were detained for allegedly breaching Covid lockdown rules.

The additional district judge in Madurai, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, found the officers guilty in the custodial deaths of trader Jeyaraj, 59, and his son Benniks, 31, according to a statement by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today.

"The court upheld that the case is a clear instance of abuse of authority and falls in the rarest of the rare cases," it said following sentencing on Monday in a case that triggered outrage over police brutality.

The two men were picked up by the officers from a police station and allegedly sub...