Orissa HC commutes death sentence of Staines killer, Dara Singh, to life imprisonment

Bhubaneswar – The prime accused in the murder case of the Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, Dara Singh got a reprieve when the Division Bench of the Orissa High Court on May 19 commuted his death sentence to one of life imprisonment.

While delivering its 106–page judgment, the Division Bench, comprising of Chief Justice Surjit Burman Roy and Justice Laxmikanta Mahapatra, stated, “The eyewitnesses never attributed any particular fatal injury to appellant Dara Singh for which he can be held individually responsible for the death of the three deceased persons or for the death of any of them. Evidence against the participants – including Dara Singh – being of identical nature, they were all equally responsible for the three murders. Therefore, no justification is available from the evidence on record to single out Dara Singh for convicting him under Section 302 IPC…the sentence of death thereunder cannot be sustained and must be set aside.”

However, the court went on to add that though the appellant cannot be held individually liable, he can be held “liable vicariously along with others by invoking Section 149 IPC, for the murder of the three deceased persons.”

Calling the evidence furnished by the prosecution against Dara Singh “weak and speculative in nature,” the Division Bench commuted the death sentence of Dara Singh to one that of life imprisonment and acquitted 11 others whom the lower court had awarded life imprisonment in the case stating that the convictions and sentences of the remaining 11 appellants “cannot be sustained as there is no reliable evidence on record as regards their identification.” The Court, however, confirmed the trial court’s decision to award life imprisonment to another convict, Mahendra Hembrum.

The murder case that tugged the conscience of the nation and received global media coverage took place in the night of January 22, 1999 when Dara Singh, alias Ravindra Kumar Pal, instigated a Hindu mob and attacked the Australia missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons who were sleeping in their jeep parked on the outskirts of Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district, Orissa. In the darkness of the night, the mob, led by Dara Singh, torched the jeep, thereby burning the occupants alive.

On June 22, 1999, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheeted 18 persons including Dara Singh for the murder but it was only on January 31, 2000, that Dara Singh was finally arrested in the jungles of Mayurbhanj district, Orissa.

On September 22, 2003, the District and Sessions Court, Khurda, sentenced Dara Singh to death and awarded life imprisonment to 12 others. However, on October 10, Dara Singh challenged the ruling of the lower court in the High Court of Orissa, finally getting a reprieve on May 19.

Dara Singh, who was in the news recently for fasting in protest against the dismal treatment he was meted in the Baripada Circle Jail, expressed great joy on hearing the news of the commutation and said that he reposed full faith and confidence in the judiciary.

According to news reports, Dara Singh now plans to move the Supreme Court of India for a full acquittal.

The news of the commutation of the death sentence of Dara Singh was received triumphantly by the saffron brigade while the Christian community, reacted on a more sober note, hoping that Dara would consider the reprieve as a “gift from God” and “become a transformed person.”

Bipin Bihari Ratho, senior advocate and state president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) noted that the judgment was “historic” that will “repose people’s faith in the judiciary.”

“The judges have shown the highest sense o judicial enlightenment and activism. The verdict has proved that the propaganda by pseudo–secularists and vested interests about Dara was malicious and fabricated,” he said.

Echoing on a similar note, the state convenor of Bajrang Dal, Subhas Chauhan, said, “The verdict has proved the dictum ‘Satyameva Jayate’ (truth will prevail).”

“This is a partial victory for Hinduism over cultural invasion by missionaries in India,” a Hindu Jagran Manch (Forum for Hindu Awakening) member said.

On the opposite camp, Christian leaders accepted the judgment on a somber note, hoping that it would help “transform” Dara Singh into a better person.

“The reprieve he received is a gift from God. We look forward to seeing a transformed Dara,” said Binoy Kumar Muduli, president of All–Orissa United Christian Forum.

Subhankar Ghosh, chairman of Mayurbhanj Leprosy Home and a close associate of the deceased, echoed similar sentiments, stating that the judgment had given a chance to Dara to be a better man in the future.

However, many Christians and other minority communities feel that the judgment has come as a shot in the arm for the Hindu extremist groups that would be encouraged to unleash a new reign of terror in Orissa, where the minority community are not well protected.

Besides the killing of the Australian missionary, Dara Singh is also the prime accused in the murder of Arul Doss, priest of Jambani church in Mayurbhanj district. Fr. Doss had succumbed to arrow–shot injuries when Dara and 21 others allegedly raided the church in 1999 a few months before the murder of Graham Staines.

He is also an accused in two other murder cases that includes the August 26, 1999 incident at Padiabeda weekly market in Mayurbhanj district where a Muslim garment trader, Sk. Rehman was burnt alive and the August 16, 1999 incident at Kendumundi in the same district in which a helper of a truck engaged in the transportation of cattle was killed.

Incidentally, Dara Singh has been portrayed as a demigod in the tribal belt of Orissa ever since his arrest for the Staines murder case. Not only the supporters of Dara Singh have launched a Delhi–based forum by the name Dharmarakhya Shri Dara Sena (Army of Dara, the protector of Hindus), but also, some movie directors, owing allegiance to the saffron brigade, have shown keen interest in making a movie of Dara Singh, portraying him as a legendary hero.