Life term for Graham Staine's murderer Dara Singh for Priest murder
(Paul Ciniraj, Salem Voice Ministries)
Baripada (Orissa, India), SVM News, September 22, 2007: Dara Singh alias Ravinder Kumar Pal and three others were sentenced to life imprisonment by the District Judge Sachidananda Sahu of Mayurbhanj District and Sessions court in Northern Baripada town in Orissa for the murder of a 35-year-old Catholic priest Arul Doss on Saturday, September 22.
Dara Singh
Dara Singh is already undergoing a life sentence in Baripada Circle Jail for burning to death of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons Philip and Timothy, while they were sleeping inside their vehicle outside a church at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district on January 22, 1999, said he would challenge the verdict in the Orissa High Court.
Graham Staines and family
A trial court in 2003, sentenced Dara Singh to death for his role in the killing, but a higher court later saved him from the gallows by commuting his sentence to life imprisonment.
Catholic priest Father Arul Doss was killed on September 1, 1999 in Jamabani village in Orissa's Mayurbhanj district. He was attacked and chased while attending a function and struck down by arrows.
Public Prosecutor Prasanna Kumar Pani said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service that the court while convicting the four, acquitted 17 other accused in the case relating to the murder of catholic priest due to lack of evidence.
The court found Dara Singh, allegedly a member of the radical Hindu group Bajrang Dal and three others - Jadunath Mahanto, Chema Ho and Rajkishore Majanto - guilty after examining 23 witnesses during the trial for which had begun on September 8, 2004.
They were also sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment for burning a church, five years for trespass and three years for armed attack. The sentences would run concurrently.
SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
