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Dara Singh awarded death sentence
Bhubaneshwar, Sept 22: Dara Singh convicted in the Staines murder case was today awarded death penalty by a special judge who also awarded life sentence for 12 othersconvicted in the case.
Bhubaneshwar, Sept 22: Dara Singh convicted in the Staines murder case was today awarded death penalty by a special judge who also awarded life sentence for 12 others
convicted in the case.
Meanwhile, Virendra Singh, brother of Dara Singh in a telephonic conversation to a television channel said that Dara will move a higher court against the death sentence.
All the convicts were tried under Section 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 148 (rioting with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly in prosecution of a common object), 435 and 436 (committing mischief by fire or explosive substance) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
Dara Singh was separately tried under Section 302 by the district and sessions judge, Khurda, M N Patnaik, who said the death sentence was subject to confirmation by the high court.
The judge sentenced all of them to life imprisonment under Section 120 (B), gave them three years rigorous imprisonment under section 148, seven years RI under section 435 read with Section 149.
They were also sentenced to life imprisonment under section 436 read with section 149.
Life sentence was also awarded to all of them, including Dara Singh, under Section 302.
The death sentence was given to Dara Singh who was tried separately under Section 302.
Besides Dara, those convicted and sentenced were Rajat Kumar Das alias Dipu Das, Mahendra Hembram, Renta Hembram, Ojen Hansda, Kartik Lohar, Rabi Soren, Dayanidhi Patra, Mahadev Mahanta, Harish Mahanta, Thuram Ho, Surath Nayak and Umakanta Bhoi.
Today`s sentence brings to an end the trial in the sensational murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, in January 2001.
Last week the judge while finding them guilty had acquitted Anirddha Dandapat alias Andha Nayak for lack of sufficient evidence against him.
Staines, working in Orissa since 1965, and his two minor sons Philip (11) and Timothy (7), were burnt to death while asleep in their station wagon outside a church at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district on the night of January 22, 1999.
The incident sent shockwaves all over the country and outside. Christians held protest rallies in Bhubaneswar and other places to condemn the killings.
In a brief hearing for about 30 minutes this morning, the judge heard submissions by a team of defence laywers as well as CBI counsels on the quantum of punishments in the case.
After hearing the arguments, the judge adjourned the matter till 4.30 pm.
All the 13 convicts, including dara, were present in the court when their counsels pleaded for lesser punishment considering their poor economic background, family problems and condition of old and ailing parents.
Counsel for Dara and several other convicts, Bana Mohanty, said Dara`s 85-year-old father was at present bed-ridden and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Noida Near Delhi, while his only brother was a psychiatric patient.
Mohanty claimed that Dara had a good social image in the Karanjia area of Mayurbhanj district.
Arguing that it was not the rarest of rare case to justify death sentence, the counsel pleaded that lesser punishment should be awarded. He said most of the convicts were tribals, had poor economic background and were the sole bread winners for their families. They had wives and small children who had no source of income.
Other defence counsels Gyana Acharya and Rabi Patnaik also pleaded for lesser sentence for the convicts.
CBI counsel K Sudhakar, citing three apex court rulings, argued that this was a fit case for awarding extreme penalty. He said the court had been convinced that they were guilty in the case. The economic condition and family problems of the convicts could never be taken into consideration while pronouncing the sentence. The gravity of crime should be taken into account while awarding punishment.
Bureau Report
All the convicts were tried under Section 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 148 (rioting with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly in prosecution of a common object), 435 and 436 (committing mischief by fire or explosive substance) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
Dara Singh was separately tried under Section 302 by the district and sessions judge, Khurda, M N Patnaik, who said the death sentence was subject to confirmation by the high court.
The judge sentenced all of them to life imprisonment under Section 120 (B), gave them three years rigorous imprisonment under section 148, seven years RI under section 435 read with Section 149.
They were also sentenced to life imprisonment under section 436 read with section 149.
Life sentence was also awarded to all of them, including Dara Singh, under Section 302.
The death sentence was given to Dara Singh who was tried separately under Section 302.
Besides Dara, those convicted and sentenced were Rajat Kumar Das alias Dipu Das, Mahendra Hembram, Renta Hembram, Ojen Hansda, Kartik Lohar, Rabi Soren, Dayanidhi Patra, Mahadev Mahanta, Harish Mahanta, Thuram Ho, Surath Nayak and Umakanta Bhoi.
Today`s sentence brings to an end the trial in the sensational murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, in January 2001.
Last week the judge while finding them guilty had acquitted Anirddha Dandapat alias Andha Nayak for lack of sufficient evidence against him.
Staines, working in Orissa since 1965, and his two minor sons Philip (11) and Timothy (7), were burnt to death while asleep in their station wagon outside a church at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district on the night of January 22, 1999.
The incident sent shockwaves all over the country and outside. Christians held protest rallies in Bhubaneswar and other places to condemn the killings.
In a brief hearing for about 30 minutes this morning, the judge heard submissions by a team of defence laywers as well as CBI counsels on the quantum of punishments in the case.
After hearing the arguments, the judge adjourned the matter till 4.30 pm.
All the 13 convicts, including dara, were present in the court when their counsels pleaded for lesser punishment considering their poor economic background, family problems and condition of old and ailing parents.
Counsel for Dara and several other convicts, Bana Mohanty, said Dara`s 85-year-old father was at present bed-ridden and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Noida Near Delhi, while his only brother was a psychiatric patient.
Mohanty claimed that Dara had a good social image in the Karanjia area of Mayurbhanj district.
Arguing that it was not the rarest of rare case to justify death sentence, the counsel pleaded that lesser punishment should be awarded. He said most of the convicts were tribals, had poor economic background and were the sole bread winners for their families. They had wives and small children who had no source of income.
Other defence counsels Gyana Acharya and Rabi Patnaik also pleaded for lesser sentence for the convicts.
CBI counsel K Sudhakar, citing three apex court rulings, argued that this was a fit case for awarding extreme penalty. He said the court had been convinced that they were guilty in the case. The economic condition and family problems of the convicts could never be taken into consideration while pronouncing the sentence. The gravity of crime should be taken into account while awarding punishment.
Bureau Report