Mahendra Hembram, one of those convicted in the horrifying 1999 murders of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, was released from Keonjhar jail in Odisha on Wednesday, 16 April after serving 25 years of his life sentence.

Now almost 51, Hembram was released from prison on grounds of good behaviour during his incarceration. "Hembram has been released following a decision by the State Sentence Review Board. The prison directorate informed (us) about it in a letter on Tuesday. He has been released after 25 years because of good behaviour in accordance with the rules," jailer Manaswini Naik said.

Jail authorities gave Hembram a cordial farewell, garlanding him as a mark of recognition for his 'good conduct' during his prison term. An official said Hembram was handed over a passbook for his bank account, where his earnings from his prison labours had been deposited.

Of course, no such consideration was accorded to Staines (58) and his sons — Philip (10) and Timothy (6) — who were burned alive by a mob of alleged activists led by Rabindra Pal 'Dara' Singh on the night of 21 January 1999, a mob of which Hembram was part, though he lost no time in proclaiming his innocence to reporters waiting outside the prison. "I spent 25 years in jail after being falsely implicated in an incident related to religious conversion. Today, I have been released."

Don't miss the 'incident related to religious conversion', which formed the entire basis of the reported justification by sundry saffron outfits of the brutal murders, since Staines and wife Gladys were apparently travelling around Odisha 'converting' locals to Christianity.

"It is a good day for us. We welcome the government's decision," Vishwa Hindu Parishad joint secretary Kedar Dash was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

But why stop at Hembram? The BJP had also earlier supported a campaign for the release of Singh, who is still serving a life sentence. And with the party having returned to power in Odisha last year after defeating its former ally Biju Janata Dal, Mohan Majhi — now chief minister and formerly Keonjhar MLA who had publicly backed the demand for Singh’s release — ought to have an easier time of showing Singh the compassion he so obviously needs.

Besides, the current BJP MP from Balasore, , was also accused of involvement in the murders as the local Bajrang Dal leader, though he was never brought to trial. So who knows, Singh's redemption may be more imminent than any of us think.

Remember, Staines and his children were sleeping in a station wagon parked in front of a church in Keonjhar district's Manoharpur village when the attack took place, triggering national and international outrage.

It was reported at the time that Staines had spread straw over the vehicle to shield themselves from the cold, and the straw caught fire. When father and sons tried to escape, the mob — armed with lathis — prevented them from getting out, leading to their deaths. Their skeletal remains were later recovered.

This was the frenzied mob that Singh led, and the then 25-year-old Hembram was part of. Upon his release, the latter was reportedly greeted with chants of 'jai Shri Ram' by supporters, and garlanded too. Though one can't see Lord Ram himself being proud of his devotee's 'achievements', we should probably now treat such chanting as par for the course when it comes to crimes against minorities.

Of the eventual 14 accused of the gruesome killings, including Singh and Hembram, all were sentenced to various prison terms, while Singh's initial death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

Singh filed a mercy petition in the Supreme Court in August 2024 seeking his release. Another mercy plea was also submitted to the President of India. On 19 March this year, the Supreme Court directed the Odisha government to take a decision on the remission plea of a "repentant" Singh.

With PTI inputs