An Indian court has handed down the death penalty to nine police officers for the custodial deaths of a father and son during the pandemic, bringing to a close a case that had caused national outrage and renewed scrutiny of police brutality.
P Jayaraj, a 58-year-old trader, and his son J Benicks, 31, died within days of being detained during the Covid lockdown. They were accused by police in the southern state of Tamil Nadu of keeping their mobile phone shop open beyond permitted hours, an allegation investigators later said was unfounded.
