Advertisement

Updated October 27th, 2020 at 13:48 IST

Benniks-Jeyaraj duo had 18 injuries; faced brutal torture before death: CBI report to HC

CBI's forensic report of the father-son duo who were brutally tortured by the Sathankulam police proves that police's brutality killed both of them.

Benniks
| Image:self
Advertisement

Three months after the case of Jeyaraj and Benniks, the father-son duo who were brutally tortured by the Sathankulam police shocked the nation and a forensics report submitted by the CBI to the Madras High Court established that it was police brutality that had killed them both.

A part of the charge sheet submitted by the CBI, in-depth, across 23 pages explained the brutal torture the father and son were met with because they had exceeded the lockdown curfew by 15 mins while closing their shop.

From 7:45 pm till 3:00 am, for more than seven hours, Jeyaraj and Benniks were brutally tortured by the Sathankulam police on the night on June 19th. This brutality according to the inquest report filed by the Judicial magistrate established there were 18 injuries on the body of the deceased.

CBI's forensic report of Jeyaraj and Benniks case

Jeyaraj (59) and his son Benniks (31) ran a mobile shop in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. On June 19, around 8:15 pm Jayaraj was pulled up by the Sathankulam police officials who were on patrol. They upbraided him for exceeding the curfew by 15 minutes. On Saturday, Jayaraj was taken in by the police and soon after his son Fenix was arrested too when he went to enquire about his father’s arrest.

The two of them were booked under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 353 (use of force to deter public servant from duty) 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), and 506(2) (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to a section of the charge sheet filed by the CBI, in a section titled “Result of Laboratory Analysis,” the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, New Delhi, Expert opinions established that the DNA samples collected from the Sathankulam Police Station premises, including the walls, bathroom floor, room of the SHO and a few other places inside the police station, wooden lathis from the accused policemen and the blood-stained clothes of the two deceased were found to be a match to the victims, Jayaraj and Benniks. The DNA samples were collected during the judicial enquiry conducted by the Kovilpatti magistrate

“In a nutshell, it is evident from the expert opinion of CFSL New Delhi that the blood available on the material objects seized from the Police Station Sathankulam i.e, wooden Lathi used by the accused persons for brutal torture of both the deceased and the blood stains exhibits collected from the walls of PS Sathankulam by FSL during judicial inquiry, contain the blood of deceased Benniks and Jeyaraj on the same.Thus, the fact that deceased Benniks and Jeyaraj were subjected to brutal torture by the accused police officers in the evening of 19.06.2020 and intervening night of 19-20.06.2020 in the Police Station Sathankulam, stands established”

READ | Tuticorin Custodial Deaths: 4 Cops Arrested And Charged For Murder Of Jayaraj And Bennicks

Giving a details chronological order of the events that took place on the night of 19th June, the charge sheet in the FIR filed by the CBI has detailed copy of the crime against the father-son duo starting from the time ‘J Benniks and P Jeyaraj were lodged in a sub-jail as remand prisoner since 20.06.2020 at 2:30 pm.

According to the report, Investigations revealed Jeyaraj was first picked up by Sub-Inspector Balakrishnan, Inspector S Sridhar, Police Constable M Muthuraja and other officials from Kamarajar Chowk on the evening of 19th June at 7:30 pm and that Benniks, his son, upon hearing Jeyaraj had been arrested enquired the police upon which he was asked o come to the police station.

The charge sheet says, “Benniks who upon reaching the police station saw his father Jeyaraj being beaten by the accused SI K. Balakrishnan. Benniks objected to that and question the SI about the reason for bringing his father to the police station and subjecting him to torture."

Soon after, an altercation ensued between Benniks and two officers PC M.Muthuraja and SI K. Balakrishnan as he had taken offence to Bennik’s questioning, and ‘In a fit of rage, deceased Bbenniks was also wrongfully confined inside the police station,’ read the charge sheet statement.

“This process of brutal torture of deceased Benniks and his father continued for hours together within the closed premises of Police Station Sathankulam and all through this, accused S. Sridhar has been repeatedly instigating the accused police officers to beat Benniks and Jeyaraj even more severely. Whenever there used to be a full accused inspector S. Sridhar used to prod the staff by asking about reasons for silence and thereby instigating them further to start fresh rounds of betting. Not only this, their deceased) clothes were removed to add to the brutality of the torture.”

READ | Tuticorin Custodial Deaths: CBI Charges Nine Policemen For Father-son Duo Death In Madurai

The document states that Jeyaraj had begged the officials to stop given his high BP and diabetic condition he wouldn’t be able to sustain such grievous injuries but allegedly no one paid heed to him and the accused police officers ‘continued with several rounds of brutal torture with intervals in between 07:45 pm on 19.06.2020 to 03:00 am on 20.06.2020.’

Furthermore, the victim was also allegedly made to clean the blood that had oozed from their wounds scattered on the floor with his vest and a sweeper in the police station was also instructed to wash and clean the floors of the remaining bloodstains in an intention to destroy the evidence, states the charge sheet.

READ | Jeyaraj And Bennix Case: Director Hari Condemns Deaths; Says 'regret Making Cop Movies'

Shedding more light on the ‘crime; committed by Jeyaraj and Benniks, the report said that the investigation revealed that there was no violation of any kind of lockdown rules by either Jeyaraj or Benniks on the night of June 19th.

“There were 18 injuries found on the body of the deceased during Inquest Proceedings. The injuries so recorded in the Inquest Report include some serious injuries, big in size with peeled skin. Further, Final Post Mortem Report furnished by the team of 03 doctors established that the deceased Benniks died of complications of blunt injuries sustained.”

Stated in the report was Ld. JM-I, Kovilpatti concluded deceased Jeyaraj and Benniks were illegally arrested on June 19, 2020, and they were brutally attacked for the entire night in police custody by the accused police officials

READ | Tuticorin Custodial Killings: Two Members Of CBI Team Probing Case Contract Coronavirus

“Thus, the Inquest Reports and Final Post - Mortem Report of the deceased Benniks established the allegations that in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy and with common intention, the accused police officers had brutally tortured the deceased Benniks in the premises of PS Sathankulam in the evening of 19.06.2020 and during intervening night of 19-20.06.2020 and had inflicted severe injuries on him knowing well that he would die of the complications of such blunt injuries sustained in ordinary course of nature.”

READ | Tuticorin Custodial Death: Enraged Parineeti Chopra Asks 'how Can Police Be Danger?'

Advertisement

Published October 27th, 2020 at 13:48 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo