Indian Christians alarmed by early release of missionary killer

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Christian leaders in India have expressed alarm over the possible early release of a Hindu extremist convicted of burning an Australian missionary and his two young sons alive, warning that freeing him could embolden extremists and further undermine minorities’ confidence in the justice system.

Dara Singh, an activist associated with the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal, is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murders of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons Philip, 10, and Timothy, 6, in the eastern state of Odisha.

According to UCA News, church leaders and rights activists voiced concern after India’s Supreme Court pressed Odisha’s BJP government to decide on Singh’s request for remission, a legal process through which authorities can reduce a convict’s sentence and permit early release under certain conditions.

Staines and his sons were sleeping inside a vehicle in Keonjhar district on Jan. 22, 1999, when a mob led by Singh surrounded it and set it on fire, burning the three alive. The killings became one of the most notorious cases of anti-Christian violence in modern India.

Singh was sentenced to death in 2003, but the Orissa High Court commuted the punishment to life imprisonment two years later. India’s Supreme Court upheld the life sentence in 2011.

The Supreme Court is now questioning why the Odisha government has yet to decide Singh’s remission application despite being given an earlier deadline.

“You want to reject it, you do it. You make a decision. We will deal with it. You can’t keep it lingering like this,” a bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi told the state government on Sept. 8.

The court had previously directed authorities to decide the request by Aug. 15. After another delay, the judges warned they could summon Odisha’s chief secretary and scheduled the case for further hearing on Sept. 17.

Christian leaders say the controversy carries particular significance because Odisha is now governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, and Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has been described by local Christian leaders as a supporter of Singh.

Father Dibakar Parichha, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, warned that releasing Singh early would weaken confidence in justice, embolden extremist forces and create greater insecurity among religious minorities.

“Forgiveness is a personal virtue, but it cannot replace legal accountability,” Parichha said.

Rights activists have also pointed to Singh’s involvement in other religiously motivated killings. Father Ajay Singh of the Odisha Lawyers Forum said the convict is serving life sentences in connection with the killing of Catholic priest Arul Doss and Muslim garment trader Sheikh Rahaman.

Singh has claimed that he now regrets crimes committed in what he described as a “fit of youthful rage,” but Christian activists say he has not demonstrated sufficient remorse.

Church representatives stress that their opposition to his release should not be confused with support for capital punishment. John Dayal, spokesperson for the All India Catholic Union, said Christians had opposed Singh’s death sentence on principle but had sought life imprisonment because of the brutality of his crimes.

Concerns have intensified since Mahendra Hembram, who was convicted alongside Singh in the Staines killings, secured early release in 2024 on the grounds of good conduct in prison.