Odisha: Why Dara Singh, murderer of Christian missionary Graham Staines and his sons, may walk free in India - BBC News

Dara Singh is serving a life sentence for burning alive Graham Staines and his two sons in Odisha in 1999.

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Dara Singh has petitioned the Supreme Court saying he regrets his crimes

Warning: This article contains details of violent death that some readers may find distressing

One of India's most shocking incidents of anti-Christian violence is back in the news more than a quarter of a century after it drew condemnation from around the world.

The Supreme Court is hearing a petition seeking release from prison by a man who is convicted of killing Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons in 1999.

Dara Singh - whose real name is Rabindra Kumar Pal - has been in jail since his arrest in 2000, serving a life sentence for burning alive the Australian missionary and his six and 10-year-old sons in a village in the eastern state of Odisha (formerly Orissa).