1999 Graham Staines murder: SC issues notice to Odisha in convict’s plea seeking remission
Dara Singh, who has been in jail for 24 years, claimed that he has understood the consequences of his actions.
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Odisha government on a petition filed by Ravindra Pal, alias Dara Singh, seeking remission of his life sentence for the murder of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two minor sons in 1999, reported Live Law.
A bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti has given the state six weeks to respond to Singh’s plea.
On the night of January 22, 1999, a mob led by Singh had burned Staines and his two sons alive when they were sleeping in a jeep in the Manoharpur village of Odisha’s Keonjhar district.
Singh had reportedly whipped up passion against the Australian missionary, who he claimed was engaged in proselytisation and converting Adivasis.
He was sentenced to death in 2003. In 2015, the Odisha High Court commuted the sentence to life imprisonment and acquitted 11 other accused. The Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s ruling in 2011.
In his petition before the Supreme Court, the 61-year-old convict said that he has served more than 24 years in jail.
He also claimed that he had never been released on parole and could not perform the last rites when his mother passed away.
Singh said that he “has well understood and is repenting the consequences of his action taken in the fit...
