60% custodial deaths within 24 hrs of arrest; most in Maharashtra, Gujarat

Just three states--Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat--accounted for almost half of deaths in police custody over the past 10 years

On June 19, 2020, traders P Jayaraj and his son J Bennicks were arrested and detained in Sathankulam police station in southern Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district for allegedly violating COVID-19 lockdown rules. Three days later, Bennicks died in hospital, followed by Jayaraj’s death the next day. They had allegedly endured hours of beating and torture by police. On September 26, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a chargesheet, booking nine Tamil Nadu police officials for the alleged murder of Jayaraj and Bennicks, among other charges.

This case is just one in an alleged pattern of endemic violence against persons in police