13-year-old gets life term for Staines murders

13-year-old gets life term for Staines murders
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

BHUBANESWAR, OCTOBER 2: The CBI-designated court here has sentenced 13-year-old Sudarsan Hansda alias Chenchu, one of the accused in the Staines murder case, to life imprisonment. The case of Chenchu, who is a juvenile, was separated from the other 13 accused in the case.

Special CBI judge Sukumar Sahu, who delivered his judgement on Saturday, found the boy guilty of killing Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines, 58, and his two minor sons, Philip, 10, and Timothy, eight, on January 22, 1999 at Manoharpur village of Keonjhar district along with others.

He was arrested by the Special Task Force of the state police months after the killing.

CBI prosecutor G Sudhakar said the judgement did not specifically say anything about where Chenchu would be detained after he attained the age of 18. However, a legal expert said as per the law he would be kept in the juvenile home till he reached the age of 18 and thereafter he would serve the remaining part of the sentence in a regular prison.

The trial of the other accused, including the prime accused, Dara Singh, who had been chargesheeted by the CBI in the case, is continuing.