In 1992, Samandar Singh was a 28-year-old ordinary villager making a living by farming and doing odd jobs when Sr Rani, professed sister of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, was posted in Udianagar, around an hour's drive from Indore. She was in the general vicinity of Singh's village and worked with the tribal and Dalit communities in Bijnor (Uttar Pradesh) and Satna (MP). She conducted camps informing them about government subsidies and loans and in the process, antagonised the money lenders. On February 25, 1995, Singh stabbed Sister Rani Maria to death. He was caught and sentenced for the crime but Sister Rani Maria's younger sister, Sister Selmy Paul did the unthinkable. She forgave her sister's killer and gave him a new lease of life.
