Hindu Who Killed Missionary Escapes Death Penalty

A Hindu extremist convicted of killing an Australian missionary and his two sons six years ago had his death sentence reduced to life imprisonment by a court in eastern India yesterday.

The high court in Orissa overturned the sentence on Dara Singh, who was convicted in September 2003 of murdering Graham Staines and his sons, Timothy, 10, and Philip, 8.

All three were burnt to death by a crowd of Hindu fanatics as they slept in their vehicle outside a church in January 1999. The missionary and his sons tried to escape the flames but the mob, armed with axes, prevented them.

After a trial lasting nearly two-and-a-half years, a court convicted 13 men of the killings. Only the alleged ringleader was sentenced to death.

Judges yesterday acquitted 11 others who were sentenced to life terms in 2003, but upheld the life sentence given to Mahendra Hembrum. The judges gave no reason for commuting the death sentence on Singh and the acquittal of the others.

The ruling was in response to an appeal against sentence by Singh, who is also facing trial for the murder of a Muslim trader and a Christian priest.

The public prosecutor told the Guardian that the case against Singh had been "thinned" because witnesses were too scared to come forward in 1999. "Because of the climate of fear that existed in Orissa at that time we did not have enough witnesses. The high court judgment cannot be said to be totally unjustified."

The law ministry will decide whether to appeal to the supreme court.

Christian leaders were angry with the decision. "It is really a shock. The church has never been a supporter of capital punishment but I am concerned about the legal process in India," said John Dayal, president of the All India Catholic Union.