India, April 7 -- In a landmark judgment, a court here on Monday handed the death penalty to nine police personnel in the sensational 2020 Sathankulam custodial death case. Father-son duo P Jayaraj and J Bennix were allegedly assaulted by the convicted policemen in Sathankulam, Thoothukudi district, for allegedly keeping their mobile shop open in violation of COVID-19 norms.

First Additional District and Sessions Judge G Muthukumaran classified the case as the rarest of rare, observing that those entrusted with protecting the public had committed a crime that shook the collective conscience of society.The court sentenced all nine convicted police personnel to death for the murders of Jayaraj and Bennix.

The convicts include former inspe...