A court in the southern state of Tamil Nadu has sentenced nine police officers to death over the custodial deaths of a trader and his son six years ago.
The Madurai District Court on Monday observed that the case falls under the "rarest of rare" category — the legal threshold under Indian law for awarding the death penalty.
The incident dates back to the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020.
P Jeyaraj (58) and his son J Benicks (38) from the Thoothukudi district were arrested for allegedly keeping their mobile phone shop open beyond the permitted hours in violation of a coronavirus lockdown.
They were taken to the Sathankulam police station where they were subjected to physical assault, according to the court. They were later remanded to judicial custody.
The two were subsequently admitted to a government hospital where Benicks succumbed to his injuries on June 22 while his father died a day later.
The incident triggered a nationwide outcry over police brutality and accountability. The case was eventually probed by India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A total of 10 policemen were arrested but one of them died during trial due to COVID-19 complications.
Over 100 witnesses were examined during the course of the trial that lasted five years.
The court on Monday observed that the case was a clear instance of abuse of authority.
The court said the father and son were "stripped and ruthlessly assaulted in front of each other as an act of vendetta," adding that "the heart shudders on reading about it."
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