BHUBANESWAR, Sept 15: A court in Orissa state on Monday convicted 13 people, including a right-wing Hindu activist, for the 1999 murder of an Australian missionary and his two sons, aged eight and 10.

The court in Bhubaneswar, Orissa’s capital, said the 13 would be sentenced on Sept 22 for the killing that shook India’s Christian community and triggered global outrage. They could face the death penalty.

The convicted included Ravindra Pal, known by the alias Dara Singh, a right-wing Hindu who allegedly led the mob that lynched Graham Staines and his children on Jan 23, 1999.

Dara Singh showed little reaction as Judge Mahendra Nath Pattnaik read the verdict. He told a tightly guarded room that he would appeal the conviction, before being whisked away from reporters.

A 14th suspect, Aniruddha Dandapat, was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Three men charged over the murder are still at large while a youth was earlier convicted and sentenced to seven years in a juvenile correctional home.

Graham Staines, a 57-year-old Baptist who had worked in India since 1965, was sleeping with his sons in his station wagon as he travelled between Orissa villages when he was surrounded by a mob that reportedly shouted anti-Christian slogans.—AFP