January 24th, 2011

The Supreme Court on January 21 upheld the verdict of the Orissa High Court and gave a life sentence to Bajrang Dal activist Dara Singh, who burnt alive Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, Philip and Timothy, aged 10 and six respectively, on the night of January 22, 1999, as they slept in their jeep. The then President of India, K.R. Narayanan, had described the murder as “one belonging to the inventory of black deeds of history” and a “monumental aberration from the tradition of tolerance and humanity for which India is known”.  read more »