Christian leaders and activists have criticized a petition seeking a presidential pardon for Rabindra Kumar Pal, known as Dara Singh, the main convict in the 1999 murder of Australian missi-onary Graham Staines and his two children. “A plea for mercy must never come at the expense of truth or the suffering of victims,” Father Ajay Singh, a rights activist who has been following the case, told on July 24.
Mahendra Hembram, the only other convict imprisoned in the same case, submitted the mercy petition to President Droupadi Murmu on July 15. Hembram himself was released last April for his “good behaviour” after spending 25 years in prison. The mercy petition “cannot be morally justified” unless the murderer shows “sincere repentance” and acknowledges “the gravity of the crime,” said the priest from the Archdiocese of Cuttack–Bhubaneswar in Eastern Odisha state.
However, neither Hembram nor the prime convict has expressed any sense of “remorse” for burning to death the missionary and his two sons, aged 6 and 10. A district court initially convicted 13 people, including Dara Singh and Hembram. However, the Orissa High Court acquitted 11 of them. Dara Singh was initially sentenced to death, but it was later commuted to life in prison, the same punishment given to his accomplice Hembram.
Spanish bishops speak out after leaks of their meeting with Leo XIV
The executive committee of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, (CEE, by its Spanish acronym) meeting in Madrid this week, issued an official statement regarding the leaks
