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Staines tried to outrage modesty of woman: Witness
Bhubaneswar, June 12: A woman defence witness in the Graham Staines murder case today alleged before a trial court that the Australian missionary, under whose influence she had been converted to Christianity, had tried to outrage her modesty.
Bhubaneswar, June 12: A woman defence witness in the Graham Staines murder case today alleged before a trial court that the Australian missionary, under whose influence she had been converted to Christianity, had tried to outrage her modesty.
Hemalata Karua, 32, of Machhagarh village in Keonjhar district told the court of the sessions judge, Khurda, M N Patnaik that she and her husband had been to a church in their village where they met Staines and his wife in October 1998.
She claimed Staines had asked them to convert to Christianity saying there would not be any financial difficulty for them if they changed their faith. He also invited them to a jungle camp to be held at Manoharpur after Makar Sankranti.
Karua said she and her husband were converted to Christianity at the jungle camp on January 21, 1999 and were given new clothes. They also attended a prayer meeting and a film on Christian faith in the evening that day.
Later, they were served beef at dinner which she refused to eat, she claimed.
Stating that she stayed in a hut behind the local church alone, Karua alleged the missionary came to the hut that night and attempted to outrage her modesty. She informed the matter to her husband the next morning and then they left for their village.
Two days later, she heard that Staines had been killed and did not report the matter to police. After 20 days of the incident, she claimed, the missionary's wife visited her to express regret over the incident.
Karua, however, said that neither she nor her husband had been offered any money by the missionary to change their faith.
Karua's claims were vehemently denied by the CBI counsel K Sudhakar who asserted that she had not visited Manoharpur and Staines had not misbehaved with her.
The missionary's wife also had not visited her village, he said while charging her with lying before the court at the instance of Dipu Das, one of the main accused in the case.
Bureau Report
She claimed Staines had asked them to convert to Christianity saying there would not be any financial difficulty for them if they changed their faith. He also invited them to a jungle camp to be held at Manoharpur after Makar Sankranti.
Karua said she and her husband were converted to Christianity at the jungle camp on January 21, 1999 and were given new clothes. They also attended a prayer meeting and a film on Christian faith in the evening that day.
Later, they were served beef at dinner which she refused to eat, she claimed.
Stating that she stayed in a hut behind the local church alone, Karua alleged the missionary came to the hut that night and attempted to outrage her modesty. She informed the matter to her husband the next morning and then they left for their village.
Two days later, she heard that Staines had been killed and did not report the matter to police. After 20 days of the incident, she claimed, the missionary's wife visited her to express regret over the incident.
Karua, however, said that neither she nor her husband had been offered any money by the missionary to change their faith.
Karua's claims were vehemently denied by the CBI counsel K Sudhakar who asserted that she had not visited Manoharpur and Staines had not misbehaved with her.
The missionary's wife also had not visited her village, he said while charging her with lying before the court at the instance of Dipu Das, one of the main accused in the case.
Bureau Report