JAGATSINGHPUR: The court of additional district and sessions judge, Jagatsinghpur on Thursday sentenced a 67-year-old man to life imprisonment for setting his daughter-in-law on fire over dowry demands in a case of 2015.
The convict is Gopal Moharana, a resident of Rainkpatana village within Jagatsinghpur police limits. Judge Shrinibas Pratihari further imposed fine of `10,000 on Moharana and failure to pay the sum would result in an additional jail term of one year.
Public prosecutor Nalinikanta Moharana said Gopal’s son Jubaraj had married Lipi Moharana in 2015 and the couple was blessed with a son. However, Lipi was often subjected to torture by her in-laws over demands for dowry owing to which she stayed at her parents’ place most of the time.
On November 2, 2015, Jubaraj called Lipi’s father up asking him to send his daughter back. However, 15 minutes after reaching their place, Jubaraj informed him that Lipi had set herself afire. Lipi’s mother and brother rushed to the spot and found her lying half-burnt at the house’s entrance. Lipi succumbed during treatment at SCB medical college and hospital in Cuttack on November 10, 2015. Following her death, Lipi’s family lodged an FIR against her in-laws alleging she had been killed over dowry. Police launched an investigation and arrested Gopal and her other in-laws.