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Chenchu files appeal in Staines' murder case

Chenchu, the 13-year-old tribal boy sentenced to life imprisonment by a juvenile court in October in the Graham Stuart Staines murder case has filed a petition against the verdict on Wednesday in the court of district and session judge, Bhubaneswar, pleading his innocence.

Chenchu's appeal said that the order of the lower court is wrong, illegal and against the established principle of law. "The order was unjust and arbitrary," Chenchu's counsel Gyan Acharya said.

Claiming that the verdict was not backed by any provision of law, the petition states that the juvenile court had not been properly constituted under Section 5 of the Juvenile Justice Act. Hence, its order is illegal.

Chenchu's counsel Gyan Acharya in his 10-page petition has also points out that the petitioner's name has not been mentioned in the First Information Report in the Staines murder case by Ralia Soren.

Acharya told rediff.com that the 13-year-old had no inclination for any religion. "Chenchu has no interest in any religion nor any reason to set fire to the station wagon in which Staines was sleeping with his two sons," he said.

The petition said that this aspect has not been taken into consideration by the juvenile court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation-designated court has sentenced Sudarshan Hansda alias Chenchu, one of the accused in the Staines murder case to life imprisonment. Being a juvenile, his case was split from that of 13 other accused in the case.

The court found Chenchu guilty of killing Staines and his two minor sons Philip and Timothy on the night of January 22, 1999 at Manoharpur village of Keonjhar district along with others.

Chenchu was arrested by the special task force few months after the Staines' were burnt to death.

At present, Chenchu is living in a juvenile home in Angul district.

ALSO SEE
Chenchu: The juvenile follower of Dara Singh
Chenchu to appeal against verdict in missionary murder case
Dara Singh arrested
Australia-born missionary, children, burnt alive in Orissa

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