The Supreme Court has ordered the eastern Indian state to make a decision within six weeks. Dara Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Australian pastor Graham Staines and his two children aged 10 and 6. In his petition he says he is “repentant”: Christian representatives said that “the court’s decision is worrying for the community”.
Bhubaneswar () – The Supreme Court of India has given the government of Orissa six weeks to respond to the request for a reduction in sentence filed by Dara Singh, a Hindu extremist sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons. The notification was issued two days ago by a courtroom composed of two judges, Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti. At this time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ultra-nationalist Hindu party from which Prime Minister Narendra Modi also comes, is leading the government for the first time in the eastern state with a tribal majority.
In 1999, Singh, a member of a far-right Hindu youth organisation called the Bajrang Dal, led a mob of fanatics to the car where Staines and his sons Philip and Timothy, aged 10 and 6, were sleeping in the village of Manoharpur. The pastor and the two boys were burnt alive for being Christians. Singh was sentenced to death in 2003, but in 2005 the Orissa High Court commuted the sentence to life imprisonment and acquitted 11 other defendants, a sentence that was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011.
In the petition he filed through his lawyer, Dara Singhnow 61, says he has already served 24 years in prison, was unable to be present at his mother’s death and “fully understands and regrets the consequences of his actions, which he carried out in a fit of youthful rage.” The petition also refers to the Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that allowed the early release of those responsible for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, prime minister in the second half of the 1980s.
However, in the early 2000s Singh was also convicted of the murder of another priest working with the poor, Fr Arul Doss (killed with an arrow while he was at home) and two Muslim shopkeepers.
Christian representatives in Orissa are strongly opposed to it and have expressed concern over the Supreme Court notification that would allow the local government, which is still supported by the Bajrang Dal, to decide on Singh’s early release. “The fact that the Supreme Court has issued this notification worries us because this is a serious crime, against humanity, not just against a family,” said Fr. Ajaya Kumar Singh, a human rights activist from the archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. “The government should in no way show sympathy for Dara Singh because this could lead to intimidation and even other dangerous effects on public order. It would create distrust and fear in the Christian community, not only in Orissa but across India. The government should not grant any favour to Singh,” the priest added.
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