The Conversion Agenda

"Freedom to convert" is counterproductive as a generalized doctrine. It fails to come to terms with the complex interrelationships between self and society that make the concept of individual choice meaningful. Hence, religious conversion undermines, and in extremes would dissolve, that individual autonomy and human freedom.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Favouring Australian Missionary, CBI Steps in Staines Case

NEW DELHI
PTI [ MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2005 08:00:36 PM ]

In a rare case, CBI moved the Supreme Court challenging the Orissa High court's order to reduce capital punishment to life imprsonment for Dara Singh who burnt alive Australian Missionary Graham Staines and pressed for his death penalty.

In a Special Leave Petition filed before the apex court, CBI described it as "rarest of the rare case" because the motive was communal, two small children were killed, and the killing was done by roasting them alive and the accused persons disregarded their pleas to come out of the vehicle, CBI sources said.

Therefore, the CBI pressed for re-imposition of capital punishment on Dara Singh, the sources said.

Graham Stuart Staines, an Australan missionary who ran a leprosy home at Baripada in Mayurbhanj district, and his two minor sons Philip (11) and Timothy (8) were asleep in their station wagon at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district on the night of January 22, 1999, when a crowd surrounded them and set the vehicle ablaze killing all three.

A sessions court had sentenced Dara Singh to death and 11 ohers to life imprisonment but the order was set aside by Orrisa High Court in May this year which converted the death sentence of Dara into a lifer and acquitted 11 others.

CBI challenged the judgment based on the legal points contending the High Court did not consider them in giving its order.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home




Home | Syndicate this site (XML) | Guestbook | Blogger
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors.
Everything else © 2005 The Conversion Agenda