Graham Staines' murderer tells SC he repents, wanted remission
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New Delhi: Dara Singh, who led a mob and burned an Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two children in 1999, prayed before the Supreme Court he acknowledges and “deeply regrets” the horrendous crime he had committed and requested for remission, The Telegraph reported.
On the night of January 22, 1999, Graham Staines and his sons, 1-year-old Philip and 6-year-old Timothy, were sleeping inside their car outside a church when the mob burnt them alive. According to witness account, a mob broke the windows of the vehicle, put straw inside and underneath it to torch it while they used sticks to stop the three victims inside from coming out.
Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence, told the court through a prayer that he acknowledges and deeply regrets the transgressions perpetrated more than two decades ago.
“In the fervour of youth, fuelled by impassioned reactions to the brutal history of India, the petitioner's psyche momentarily lost restraint,” the PTI quoted the plea.
"It is imperative for the court to scrutinise not merely the actions but the underlying intent, noting that there was no personal animosity harboured towards any victim," the plea read.
The 61-year-old convict reportedly pleaded for an opportunity to reform his character, claiming that he believes in the Karmic philosophy and wanted a remission to cure the effects of bad Karma that he gained through his actions. He assured us in his petition that he would "give back to society" through "service-oriented actions".
Four years after the mass murder, in 2003, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court convicted Singh to death, but the Orissa High Court commuted the sentence to life imprisonment in 2005. The top court also upheld the HC’s decision.
An accomplice of Singh in the case, Mehendra Hembram, is also serving a life sentence while the HC had acquitted 11 other accused due to lack of evidence.