To support the ministry of Christians In Crisis, you may ... **Send a check to: CIC PO Box 293627 Sacramento, CA 95829 OR **Click on secure button below
|
|
|
Life term for Graham Staines' murderer Dara Singh for slaying Roman Catholic priest |
|
|
|
|
Source: www.assistnews.net Date: September 23, 2007
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
 | | Dara Singh. | ORISSA, INDIA (ANS) -- The convicted murderer of missionary Graham Staines has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a Catholic priest.
According to Salem Voice Ministries News Service, 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.
 | | The Graham Staines Family. | Dara Singh is already undergoing a life sentence in Baripada Circle Jail for burning to death 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. Singh said he would challenge the verdict in the Orissa High Court.
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 told Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service that the court. while convicting the four, acquitted 17 others 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 r which 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.
|
|
