Amid COVID-19 lockdown towards the end of June, two men in Tamil Nadu passed away within hours of each other after spending three days in police custody. The father and son duo had been arrested for 'violating' lockdown norms over business hours of their cellphone shop. Three days later, they died in a government hospital after allegedly being thrashed by police officials at the Sathankulam police station.
The incident had sparked nationwide outrage, with many observing protests or calling for immediate action against the perpetrators. While the case had initially been investigated by the CB-CID, the CBI had taken over the Tuticorin custodial death cases probe, registering two FIRs in the beginning of July.
Now, details from the CBI probe have emerged, indicating that the two victims had been brutally and extensively abused before their deaths. As per an NDTV report, the CBI probe has revealed that they were beaten till there was blood splattered on the walls, in "several rounds of brutal torture" till late into the night. Later, an attempt was made to cover the crime, with the police officials registering a false FIR against the father son duo and destroying their bloodstained clothes.
As per an India Today report that quotes the CBI report, DNA samples collected from the walls of the lockup, the toilet, the room of the SHO and the official's lathis matched the samples of the two victims. According to reports, the chargesheet also alleges that the victims were made to clean the blood splattered on the floor with their own clothes.
As per the CBI, the fact that they had been "subjected to brutal torture by the accused police officials" between from June 19-20 in the Santhankulam police station now "stands established".
