After such her long journey, Gladys Staines says goodbye

On Thursday, the widow of the late Australian missionary Graham Staines—who was burnt alive in a jeep with her two sons in January 1999—will fly out of the country to return to her native land, Australia.

Speaking to The Indian Express on the phone while she was on her way to the Kolkata airport on Wednesday, Staines cited ‘‘personal reasons’’ for the move.

‘‘I am going to visit my father. He is 91,’’ she said. ‘‘My daughter is over 18 years old. She wants to go to an Australian university. And I, too, need some rest now.’’

The Staines have been in India for over two decades. Graham Staines was known for his work among those suffering from leprosy in Orissa. It was one night in January 1999 that Staines and his two sons, Philip (10) and Timothy (6), were burnt alive by a mob in Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district while they were asleep in their vehicle.

In September 2003, prime accused Dara Singh was sentenced to death and 12 others were given life imprisonment.

However, undeterred by the fate her husband and sons suffered, Gladys Staines chose to stay back in Orissa with her daughter and continue her late husband’s work.

On July 8, 2004, she even inaugurated the new Graham Staines Memorial Hospital — a ten-bed referral hospital for leprosy patients in Baripada, Orissa.

‘‘I will keep visiting to check on the hospital,’’ the soft-spoken Staines — in her 50s — told The Indian Express.

‘‘It is sad that Mrs Gladys Staines is leaving India for good,’’ Abraham Mathai, vice-chairman, State Minorities Commission and general secretary of the All-India Christian Council, said.

Mathai met Staines when she came to Mumbai to present the first-ever Graham Staines Memorial Award for Harmony and Peace instituted by the Council last year. ‘‘This country has really not valued her selfless contribution. We have lost a living symbol of love and forgiveness,’’ Mathai added.

Staines, however, insisted that she has nothing against India. ‘‘I take back a lot of love from the people of this country and I am thankful for all the help I received here,’’ she said, but added that being based in India now seemed unlikely.

‘‘I have been here for over 20 years. I have made many friends I can never forget,’’ she stated.

‘‘I will keep coming back.’’