The Hindu : Death for Dara Singh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 23, 2003

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Death for Dara Singh

By Prafulla Das

"We will challenge all orders except in the case of Dara Singh". - Counsel

BHUBANESWAR SEPT. 22. A Designated CBI court today awarded the death penalty to Dara Singh and life imprisonment to 12 others for their involvement in the killing of the Australian missionary, Graham Stuart Staines, and his two minor sons in Orissa's Keonjhar district in the night of January 22, 1999. Pronouncing the verdict in a packed courtroom at 4-35 p.m., the District and Sessions Judge, Mahendra Nath Patnaik, handed out the death sentence to Dara Singh under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code separately, and sentenced the 12 other convicts to life imprisonment under various Sections of the IPC, including Sections 120(B) and 302 (murder and criminal conspiracy).

The death sentence awarded to Dara Singh was subject to confirmation by the High Court under Section 366 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC), the Judge said, while ordering that the case file be sent to the High Court.

The judge had on September 15 held all the 13 accused guilty under Sections 120(B), 148, 435, 436, 302 and 149 of the IPC for offences such as criminal conspiracy, murder, unlawful assembly, rioting, arson, causing damage to property and mischief by setting fire. One accused, Anirudh Dandapat alias Andha Nayak, was acquitted for want of evidence.

The 12 persons awarded life term today are Dipu Das, Suratha Nayak, Mahendra Hembram, Renta Hembram, Harish Mahanta, Kartik Lohar, Mahadev Mahanta, Thoram Ho, Daya Patra, Ojen Hansda, Rabi Soren and Umakanta Bhoi. All the convicts were present in the court when the judge read out his order into a microphone.

Search for cell phone

Dara Singh, who appeared to be in a remorseful mood, was, however, seen consoling the fellow convicts. He was seen searching for a mobile phone to speak to his 85-year-old father who has been admitted to hospital in Noida in Uttar Pradesh. He, however, did not get one.

Interestingly, many of the convicts, except Dara Singh, wore white Kurtas with `Shiv Sena' and the tiger face embroidered on them. While the courtroom was crowded with lawyers and mediapersons, thousands of people waited outside the court till evening to have a glimpse of Dara Singh. Over 300 securitymen were deployed in and around the court.

"Forgiveness and the consequences of crime should not be mixed up". - Gladys Staines.

Earlier in the day, the judge heard submissions by counsel for the Central Bureau of Investigation as well as the defence counsel on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to the 13 convicts.

K. Sudhakar, CBI counsel, urged the court to award stringent punishment to the 13 convicts saying they had killed Graham Staines and his two sons without provocation. Citing several Supreme Court judgments which upheld the trial court verdict awarding capital punishment to the accused, Mr. Sudhakar said that it was a fit case for awarding the extreme penalty.

Counsel for the convicts, Bana Mohanty and Gyana Acharya, prayed leniency for the 13 persons as most of them were tribals and the sole bread-winners of their families.

After the pronouncement of the verdict, Mr. Mohanty told presspersons that they would challenge the order in the High Court in respect of all convicts except Dara Singh. He said Dara Singh had told him that he did not want to challenge the order in the High Court.

Graham Staines and his sons, Phillip (11) and Timothy (7), were burnt to death when they were asleep inside their station wagon at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar after attending a jungle camp, an annual gathering of Christians of the area for fellowship and teaching.

The trial, which started on March 1, 2001, had come to an end on August 18 this year. A total of 55 prosecution witnesses were examined in the case, followed by 25 defence witnesses. The CBI had charge-sheeted Dara Singh and 17 others submitting that there was enough evidence on record to show the involvement of the accused.

Three accused in the case are still absconding, and another accused, Chenchu Hansda, who was tried by a separate court for being a minor, has been sentenced to seven years of imprisonment. The CBI has kept the investigation open as all the accused have not been brought to justice.

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