A Bokaro court on Wednesday sentenced three members of a family to rigorous imprisonment for life in a 2014 dowry murder case in Sector IID of the steel city.

The court of additional sessions judge had on Tuesday held Radheshyam Tiwari (30) and his parents - Girija Tiwari (52) and Dwarika Tiwari (61) - guilty of tying his wife Ruby Devi (25) to a iron pole and setting her on fire on July 5 three years ago. Ruby, a mother of two children, had lost her battle for life in hospital eight days later.

The judge, while awarding life term in this brutal murder for a dowry of Rs 5 lakh, also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 each on Radheshyam, Girija and Dwarika. He has also ordered compensation for Ruby's six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter.

Bokaro public prosecutor R.K. Rai said the court awarded RI for life under Sections 302/34 of the IPC, imposing a fine of Rs 10,000. "The court also found the trio guilty under Sections 498A/34 of the Dowry Act and awarded three years of RI along with slapping a fine of Rs 10,000 on each. If they don't pay up, the guilty will have to undergo an additional three months of simple imprisonment in each case," Rai said.

On the compensation for the minor children, the public prosecutor said the amount would be decided by the District Legal Services Authority and paid by Radheshyam and his parents.