Gladys Staines (born c. 1951) is the widow of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Graham Staines Graham Stuart Staines (18 January 1941 – 23 January 1999) was an Australian Christian missionary, who along with his two sons, Philip (aged 10) and Timothy (aged 6), was burnt to death in India by members of a Hindu fundamentalist group named ...

. Graham Staines was burnt alive along with their two sons Philip (aged 10) and Timothy (aged 7) by a mob led by the

Bajrang Dal The Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was ...

activist

Dara Singh Dara Singh Randhawa (born Deedar Singh Randhawa; 19 November 1928 – 12 July 2012) was an Indian professional wrestler, actor, director and politician. He started acting in 1952 and was the first sportsman to be nominated to the Rajya Sab ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

on 22 January 1999. Shortly after the sentencing of the killers, Staines issued a statement saying that she had forgiven the killers and had no bitterness towards them. Rather than return to Australia, Staines "decided to stay in India where she and her husband had served lepers for 15 years", keeping her daughter Esther, with her, stating: "I cannot just leave those people who love and trust us. I have high regard for the people of India and their tolerance." In 2004, ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

'' described this woman as "the best-known Christian in India after Mother Teresa." In 2005, she was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, a civilian award from the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. As a result of the contributions earned from receiving that award, Staines transformed the leper house she served at into a full

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

. The hospital is named Graham Staines Memorial Hospital, established in 2004. In November 2015, Staines was awarded the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice and after receiving the award, she stated "I thank God for his help in enabling me to carry out the work in caring for people with leprosy, even after my husband was killed."

References

External links

"''Kalam meets Gladys Staines''"
15 May 2003

15 September 2003
"''Gladys Staines may leave India forever''"
- ''Times of India'' article, 14 July 2004
"''Gladys Staines bids adieu to India''"
- ''Times of India'' article, 15 July 2004

1950s births Living people Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work Australian Protestant missionaries Protestant missionaries in India Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Australian expatriates in India Leprosy nurses and caregivers {{Australia-bio-stub