J. Selvarani, wife of Jayaraj and the mother of Benicks who died of alleged custodial torture by the Sattankulam police last year, on Wednesday deposed before the additional district and sessions judge I, Madurai.
The accused were produced before the trial court. Ms. Selvarani, one of the witnesses, was examined and cross-examined during the course of the trial proceedings that went on for over three hours.
While eight other accused policemen were represented by their counsel, the main accused, suspended inspector S. Sridhar, represented himself, and cross-examined Ms. Selvarani. The hearing was adjourned till August 11.
The case had sparked nationwide outrage. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had initiated suo motu proceedings and passed a series of directions, and the State government later transferred the case to the CBI.
The CBI filed a charge sheet against Sridhar, sub-inspectors P. Raghu Ganesh and K. Balakrishnan, head constables S. Murugan and A. Saamidurai and constables M. Muthuraj, S. Chelladurai, X. Thomas Francis and S. Veilumuthu. The special sub-inspector, Pauldurai, an accused in the case, died after contracting COVID-19.
