A MAN convicted of killing a missionary and his sons in India more than 25 years ago has been released from prison.

Mahendra Hembram, 50, was given a life sentence for his involvement in the deaths of the Australian Christian missionary Dr Graham Staines, 55, and his two sons Philip, 10, and Timothy, 6, in Manoharpur village (News 29 January 1999).

Mr Hembram was one of 14 people accused of involvement in the killings, and claimed at the time that he was innocent. He was sentenced alongside Dara Singh while the 12 other men, described as “militants with Hindu nationalist links”, were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Dr Staines, of the Evangelical Missionary Society, was director of a local leprosy hospital. He and his two sons were sleeping in a jeep outside a makeshift church when they were burned to death on 23 January 1999. The incident was described as “a monumental aberration of time-tested tolerance and harmony. The killings belong to the world’s inventory of black deeds,” by the then President of India, Kocheril Raman Narayanan.

Authorities in Odisha State, India, released Mr Hembram on 18 April on grounds of good behaviour, stating the release was in accordance with the recommendations of the Odisha State Sentence Review Board, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports. His release has drawn attention to Mr Singh’s plea for remission.

The Odisha-based priest and lawyer, Father Ajay Singh Kumar, told the website Catholic Connect: “If society fails to punish the perpetrators with just consequences, it risks encouraging others to commit similar atrocities.”

The Open Doors World Watch List 2025 lists India 11th in its ranking of countries according to the severity of persecution and discrimination of Christians. The report says that Hindu nationalism is on the rise, and that “violent attacks often go unpunished in areas where the authorities support Hindu extremists”.