Mahendra Hembram, one of the Hindu fanatics convicted in the gruesome 1999 killings of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons, has been freed after serving 25 years in prison.
Hembram, 50, was released from Keonjhar jail on 16 April on grounds of "good behaviour".
Supporters greeted him with flower garlands and Hindu chants of “Jai Shri Ram” as he exited the prison - a scene that drew fierce condemnation from human rights advocates and Christian leaders.
John Dayal of the United Christian Forum called the welcome “obscene” and a blatant politicisation of the justice system.
A Catholic priest and human rights activist in Odisha, Ajay Singh, told Morning Star News, “The way Hembram was welcomed with garlands and taken on a celebration procession by a crowd shouting Hindu slogans was a shocking sight for anybody believing in peace and tranquillity of a society.”
Though Hembram claimed innocence upon his release, court records from 2002 note that he had once confessed to being solely responsible for the killings.
“I spent 25 years in jail after being falsely implicated in an incident related to religious conversion. Today, I have been released,” he declared to reporters.
In a callous and shocking murder, Graham Staines, 58, and his sons Philip, 10, and Timothy, 6, were burned to death inside their station wagon in Manoharpur, Odisha, on 22 January 1999.
The missionary had served leprosy patients in Baripada India since 1965.
According to eyewitness accounts and police reports, Hembram and co-accused Dara Singh steered a mob that torched the vehicle after accusing Staines of promoting religious conversions among tribal communities.
Attempts by the victims to escape the burning car were thwarted by the mob, who used wooden poles to prevent them from fleeing.
The brutal murder prompted severe condemnation from then-President KR Narayanan, who described it as belonging to “the world’s inventory of black deeds”.
Hembram was arrested in December 1999 and a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court sentenced him, along with 12 other people, to life imprisonment on 22 September 2003.
Dara Singh was handed a death sentence, later commuted to life by the Orissa High Court in 2005—a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011.
Eleven others were acquitted during appeals.
The 2011 Supreme Court ruling came under fire for initially suggesting the murderers sought to “teach a lesson to Graham Staines about his religious activities, namely converting poor tribals to Christianity”.
Following public backlash, the court took the rare step in 2021 to expunge its own remarks, replacing them with more neutral language affirming that “there is no justification for interfering in someone’s religious beliefs by any means”.
Keonjhar and Jharpada jail superintendents confirmed that Hembram’s release was consistent with Odisha’s 2022 remission policy, which allows for the release of life convicts who have served over 20 years in serious cases.
Hembram was one of 30 murder convicts released on 16 April.
However, human rights advocates questioned the timing and optics of his public reception, especially as political support appears to build for the release of Dara Singh, who remains in custody.
Dara Singh’s plea for remission is currently under review by the Odisha government following a directive from the Supreme Court on 19 March 2025, with a decision due in early May.
Christian leaders warned of the broader implications.
Dayal commented that “the political clamour for his release too is on the rise.”
Dara Singh said, “This is a rarest of the rare crime against humanity, where Staines and his sons were burnt alive in a most barbaric way, and if murderers like Hembram and Dara Singh are released and that release celebrated in this manner, that will send a wrong message to those who indulge in such crimes."
He stressed that the actions of Hembram and Dara Singh went far beyond a “simple murder” and should be recognised as an extraordinary crime.
Advocates say Hindu nationalist rhetoric under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership has fuelled intolerance and invigorated extremists.
As attention now turns to the pending plea of Dara Singh, the nation watches closely to see whether justice remains equitable—or political.
