In a landmark judgment, a Madurai District Court awarded the death penalty to nine police personnel for the custodial torture and deaths of father-son duo P Jayaraj and J Benicks in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district in 2020. The court observed that the brutal assault inside the Sattankulam Police Station constituted a “rarest of rare” crime, highlighting the gravity of custodial violence and abuse of power. The verdict is being seen as a significant moment for accountability within law enforcement and a strong message against human rights violations, bringing a measure of justice to a case that had sparked nationwide outrage and demands for police reforms. www.navjivanfoundation.org