Bhubaneswar: A court in Odisha’s Kandhamal district has convicted five members of a family in a dowry death case.

The Additional Sessions Judge, Phulbani, convicted one Bijay Behera, his parents and two sisters in connection with the death of his wife Meera over dowry in 2015.

The court has awarded 10 years of imprisonment and penalty to Bijay. Similarly, it awarded seven years of imprisonment each to Bijay’s parents and his two sisters.

As per the case records, Bijay, a resident of Mahulapali village in Ganjam district, had tied the knot with Meera, the daughter of Sashi Bhusan Sahu of Kandhamal Sadar area, in 2013.

Soon after the marriage, Bijay and other members of his family were allegedly torturing Meera over dowry.

Bijay had left a critically-ill Meera with her parents on September 2, 2015. She was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital but doctors declared her dead on arrival.

Meera’s parents had lodged a complaint in this regard with Kandhamal Sadar police. On the basis of a complaint, the cops registered a case and arrested Bijay, his parents and two sisters.

The court convicted all the accused after examining the witnesses and other pieces of evidence gathered by the police during the investigation, said public prosecutor Malati Pal.