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| Wednesday, 17 September 2003 |
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Thirteen convicted for murder of Australian missionary ORISSA, Tuesday (AFP) A court in eastern India Monday convicted 13 people, including a right-wing Hindu activist, for the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, aged eight and 10. The court in Orissa state's capital Bhubaneswar said the 13 would be sentenced September 22 for the killing that shook India's minority Christian community and triggered global outrage. They could face the death penalty. The convicted included Ravindra Pal, known by the alias Dara Singh, a right-wing Hindu who allegedly led the mob that lynched Staines and his children on January 23, 1999. Singh showed little reaction as Judge Mahendra Nath Pattnaik read the verdict. He told the tightly guarded courtroom that he would appeal the conviction, before being whisked away from reporters. A 14th suspect, Aniruddha Dandapat, was acquitted for lack of evidence. Three men charged over the murder are still at large while a youth was earlier convicted and sentenced to seven years in a juvenile correctional home. Staines, a 57-year-old Baptist who had worked in India since 1965, was sleeping with his sons in his station wagon as he travelled between Orissa villages when he was surrounded by a mob that reportedly shouted anti-Christian slogans. Staines and his sons Philip, eight, and Timothy, 10, were burnt alive after their escape route from the car was blocked by activists brandishing axes, according to prosecutors. In Australia the late missionary's brother expressed concern a death sentence could stir up more extremism. "The thing is, we have forgiven them in Christ's name. I think that these men have to face up to what they've done. By the same token, I don't want to see them put to death over it," John Staines told the Australian Associated Press. The missionary's widow Gladys Staines, who continues to live in India, has publicly forgiven her husband's killers, saying Christianity teaches against bitterness. |
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