Madurai: In the Sathankulam father-son custodial deaths case, the Madurai First Additional District Court on Monday has awarded the death penalty to all nine convicted police personnel, including Inspector Sridhar. “Death sentence and a fine of Rs. 15 lakh imposed on the first accused, Police Inspector Sridhar,” Judge Muthukumar said.
The judge announced that a double death penalty would be imposed on all the 9 convicts since they had murdered both the father and the son.
Sathankulam case judgement
Pronouncing the sentence, Judge the punishment must act as a deterrent to prevent such crimes in the future. He observed that mere life imprisonment would not be sufficient given the gravity of the offence. “The judgment must reflect the conscience of society,” the judge said, noting that the incident had deeply shocked the collective conscience.
Even though the Supreme Court issued guidelines in 2011, the continuation of such custodial deaths is distressing. Therefore, imposing the maximum punishment would be the best option. It is not possible to differentiate who beat them more: Judge.
The Tamil Nadu government had earlier strongly emphasized that no mercy should be shown to the convicts and that the maximum punishment must be imposed.