File picture of people carrying a portrait of Graham Staines, the Australian missionary who was murdered along with his two sons in 1999. (AFP)

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 21: Surprising as it may seem given the history of antagonism between them, leaders of both Hindus and Christians today expressed satisfaction over the Supreme Court judgment upholding the life sentence awarded to Rabindra Kumar Pal alias Dara Singh for killing Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons at Manoharpur in Keonjhar district 12 years ago.

“We accept what the court has decided. Christians are not for taking someone’s life. Revenge has never been our intention. The wife of the slain missionary had already forgiven him. At the same time no crime should go unpunished; the court has meted out punishment,” said Father Raphael Cheenath, archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar diocese.

The president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, Sajan K. George, said the life sentence awarded to Dara Singh was welcome but he should be made to spend his entire life behind bars so that his example becomes a true deterrent for others who ever think of committing such a crime.

“We Christians don’t believe in extreme punishment like death anyway,” he added.

Shubhankar Ghosh, one of the closest associates of the late missionary, also expressed satisfaction with the judgment.

“If you take a life for a life it has no meaning. The court, in fact, has given him a second chance to try and become a better person. He can now repent for what he did and ensure that such acts are not repeated,” said the former teacher, adding that Gladys Staines, the wife of the slain missionary, who is currently in Australia, had expressed similar sentiments.

“She told me that she was satisfied with the verdict,” said Ghosh.

The judgment was also welcomed by Bajrang Dal national convener Subhash Chauhan who, however, felt that the CBI had failed to highlight the controversial issue of religious conversions. “The issue is crucial and has led to gruesome incidents like the murder of Swami Laxmananand Saraswati. We want a central law against conversions,” he said.

While state BJP vice-president Ashok Sahu described the verdict as “good”, Dara Sena president Mukesh Jain appeared aggrieved that while the killers of VHP leader Laxmananand Saraswati were still at large, Dara Singh’s life sentence had been upheld. His sentiments found faint echo in the views of Sudarshan Hansda alias Chenchu, the only minor to have been arrested in connection with the Staines murder 12 years ago.

“I am saddened that Dara’s life sentence has been upheld by the court,” said Chenchu, who had to spend a few years in a reformatory after being convicted in the case by a juvenile court in 2000.

The apex court verdict brought the curtains down on one of the most sensational criminal cases in the history of the country with its trial at different stages attracting international attention.

It was exactly 12 years ago on the midnight of January 22 at Manoharpur village in the tribal-dominated Keonjhar district that the 58-year-old missionary, Graham Stewart Staines, and his two young sons, Philip (10) and Timothy (6), were burnt alive by a mob led by Dara Singh, a native of Uttar Pradesh, while they were sleeping in their station wagon. Staines, who was organising a camp in the area, was targeted for allegedly converting people to Christianity, a charge that has been vehemently denied by Christian leaders.

As a wave of horror swept through the country and even foreigners condemned the killing, Dara and his cohorts went into hiding. He was arrested a year later from a forest in neighbouring Mayurbhanj district after the case had been handed to the CBI for investigation. Dara’s trial by the designated CBI court in Bhubaneswar, which awarded him the death sentence and life term to 12 of his accomplices on September 22, 2003, was widely reported in the media. The trial court verdict was challenged in Orissa High Court, which on May 19, 2005 commuted Dara’s death penalty to life term and acquitted 11 others while upholding the life term awarded to Mahendra Hembram. The apex court had upheld the life term for both of them.