The community said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is the\nstory behind this?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When\ntwenty-four-year-old Graham Staines visited India for the first time in 1965 to\nmeet a pen pal, he fell in love with the area of Baripada and its people. The\nAustralian made India his home, joining in work with people suffering from\nleprosy. Among his initiatives was to establish a dairy where people\nsuffering from leprosy could earn an income. He had to persuade Indians they\ncould safely drink the milk. He learned three local languages and helped\ntranslate the Bible into the Ho dialect. The government depended on him for\nsome translation work and to encourage locals to get polio immunizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1981\nStaines met Gladys June Weatherhead, a volunteer with the leprosy work.\nTwo years later they married. They had three children, Esther, Tim, and Philip.\nStaines taught other Christians in the region and quietly shared his faith with\nnon-Christians. To reduce barriers, he dressed in local garb, ate local\nfoods, and spoke the regional languages. However, few came to\nChrist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Annually, for\nfourteen years, Staines also participated in a jungle camp near Manoharpur, at\nwhich many of the region\u2019s Christians gathered for fellowship, encouragement,\nand Bible teaching. At this gathering, Staines would also provide instruction\nin public hygiene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The region\naround Manoharpur clung to the Santhal culture and resented Christians because\nthey refused to offer animal sacrifices to appease evil spirits. Christians\nalso angered traditionalists by singing hymns during Christian weddings.\nResentment boiled over in 1999 when Staines and his two sons attended the\nannual jungle camp. Hours before his death, Staines, with help from his\nsons, dispensed medicines and inspected people for leprosy. After showing\na film to locals, the Christians decided to spend the night in Manoharpur\u2019s church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The church\nwas crowded, so Staines opted to sleep in his jeep with his boys. Just after\nmidnight, early on the morning of this day 23 January 1999<\/strong>, a mob\ninstigated by Dara Singh, a zealous Hindu, surrounded the jeep and set it on\nfire. When Staines and his sons tried to escape the flames, the mob pushed them\nback in until they burned to death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n International\noutcry was immediate. Staines was beloved in Baripada for his years of\nself-sacrificing work among the poor and sick. Thousands turned out to mourn\nhim. The leprosy patients sobbed inconsolably. Gladys said, \u201cI am terribly\nupset, but not angry. My husband loved Jesus Christ who has taught us to\nforgive our enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the Santhal hid Dara Singh, it was a year before he was captured. After a trial, he was sentenced to death and eleven associates were given life sentences. In keeping with her religious profession, Gladys pleaded that Singh\u2019s death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. Eventually, it was and the sentences of his co-defendants vacated. The courts ruled \u201cIt is undisputed that there is no justification for interfering in someone\u2019s belief by way of the use of force, provocation, conversion, incitement, or upon a flawed premise that one religion is better than the other.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n What was the reaction in the community?\nThey said: We have never seen people that loved us so much. We have never seen\npeople like this family that forgave so much. We have never seen so much\nrighteousness \u2013 although they forgive they knew that righteousness must prevail\nbut even in righteousness she asked for mercy for the people that killed their\nfamily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n