A 39-year-old Hindu man, who was convicted of being part of a gang that murdered Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two young sons 26 years ago, has announced his baptism as a Baptist Christian.

“I took baptism on my own in April 2025 and became a Christian. Not because a pastor influenced me but … my inner voice told me to shun violence, and I turned to the church seeking forgiveness,” Sudarshan Hansda, also known as Chanchu, told UCA News on June 29.

Chanchu was a 13-year-old seventh-grader when he joined the mob that burned Staines and his two sons alive inside their station wagon on the night of Jan. 22, 1999, in the village of Manoharpur in Odisha state’s Keonjhar district, in eastern India.

“I fled the horrible scene when the red flames rose up from the burning Jeep,” Chanchu added. “It was a mob of about 60 people, armed with bows and arrows, sticks, and petrol cans from surrounding villages.”

Dara Singh, a local leader of the right-wing Hindu organization Bajarang Dal, which opposed missionary activities in the villages, was the leader of the gang, Chanchu said.

Staines, a Baptist missionary, and his sons — Philip, 10, and Timothy, 6 — cried out for help and tried to escape from the vehicle. But they were pushed back in and burned to death, he said.

Chanchu said he was arrested a few days later. Although a juvenile, he was sentenced to 14 years in jail. However, he was released in 2008 after serving about nine and a half years for good behavior.

“My worst life was not inside jail, but when I became free and returned home,” he said, explaining what led to his conversion.

Soon after his release, Chanchu said,  “I lost my poor father, a daily laborer, my mother, a firewood collector, and my two sisters. I went mad.”

“I just couldn’t understand what was happening. My only son also died a day after his birth in a government hospital, and then, my wife also died,” Chanchu said.

He married again and now has two sons, seven and two years old

The search “for peace led me to the local Baptist Church” in Manoharpur village, where Staines worked.

The church there now has some 50 Christian families, living alongside around 300 Hindu tribal families.

Chanchu said he attends “service every Sunday, and I find peace there.”  

Local Baptist Pastor Timothy has been his guide, he added.

Chanchu said another convict, Mahendra Hembram, 51, who served 25 years in Odisha’s Keonjhar jail and was released for “good conduct” on April 16, met him.

“He asked me about my conversion. I told him it was my own decision and that I find solace and peace in the church.”

He said the Hindu groups who accused Christian missionaries of forceful conversion in villages have “no idea of what is happening here. There is no forceful conversion here,” he said.

Bishop Pallab Lime, head of the ecumenical body, United Believers Council Network of India, said Chanchu grows vegetables and rice on his land, and also works as a skilled laborer building houses in nearby villages.

“After he was released from jail, he took to drinking and was unstable. Perhaps he could not cope with a series of tragedies that left him miserable and grief-stricken,” the prelate said.

Baptist Pastor Ralia Soren from Manoharpur village told UCA News that Chanchu has now reformed and has attended church services regularly with his family since he became a Christian.

“He has come a long way, braving all the odds, and now finds hope and happiness in the church, and we all care for him and his family,” the pastor added.

Dara Singh, the main accused, approached the Supreme Court in July 2024, seeking remission of his life sentence.