New Delhi
January 25, 1999

The Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has condemned the ghastly incident where a missionary of a Church of Baripada in Orissa and his minor children were burnt. Expressing his shock at the incident, the Prime Minister asked the State Government to bring the culprits to book immediately and without delay. 

President K R Narayanan described the "barbarous killings" as "belonging to the world's inventory of black deeds". In a strongly-worded statement he said : "That someone who spent years caring for patients of leprosy, instead of being thanked and appreciated as a role-model, should be done to death in this manner is a monumental aberration from the traditions of tolerance and humanity for which India is known".