21-year-old Odisha’s Hindutva activist burnt Australian missionary Graham Steins and his children. The news that Graham Staines and his children were burned in the minds of Christians, which accounts for less than two and a half percent of the country’s population. On January 23, 1999, RSS activists set fire to Graham Steins and his seven and nine-year-old sons Philip and Timothy.
Hindu militants have turned their backs on allegations that Graham Steines and his family had been converted to ministering to lepers in Orissa. The intense hatred of the militants led to the killing of the family, including innocent children. Only Graham Steins’ wife, Gladys, and her daughter, Esther, remained alive. The only person convicted in the murder of Graham Steines was Dhara Singh. The court acquitted 11 other accused.
Graham Steins’ wife, Gladys, who witnessed the horrific murder of her husband and children, returned to India in 2006. They continue to care for the lepers started by her husband in this country. At the same time, many people in Odisha adopted the Christian faith as a reflection of the blood of Graham and his children. It is still going on.
Several films have been released based on the life of Graham Steins. The film, titled ‘War Path Beyond the Life’, was released in April 2017 in English, Malayalam, Hindi, and Tamil. This has struck thousands of hearts. The film, titled The Least of These (the smallest of them), was released in March last year, reaching 135 theaters across the country.
