A court in Kerala on Tuesday sentenced a former government employee to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for dowry harassment and domestic violence that led his wife Vismaya N. Nair to commit suicide.

Kollam additional sessions judge Sujith K.N., who had pronounced Kiran Kumar, 31, guilty of the charges on Monday, heard the accused and the prosecution before sentencing him to 10 years in prison and imposing a penalty of Rs 12.55 lakh for various offences, including Rs 2 lakh to be given to the victim’s parents.

Vismaya, 22, was found hanging from the ventilator grill of a bathroom at her husband’s home in Kollam in June last year. Kumar, then a motor vehicles assistant inspector, was arrested for dowry harassment, domestic violence and abetment to suicide, among other charges.

Kumar was sacked by the Kerala government following his arrest.

The court sentenced him to 10 years in jail under IPC Section 304B (dowry death), six years under Section 306 (abetment to suicide), two years under Section 498A (harassment of a women by husband or relative) and six years under the Dowry Prohibition Act. All sentences will run concurrently, resulting in a cumulative 10-year jail term.

Vismaya’s father Thrivikraman Nair, who was present in the court, said he was satisfied with the sentence.

“I am satisfied with the sentence as I had not expected a life term. But I will now proceed against his family members,” he said, adding they did nothing to stop the torture his daughter faced at the hands of Kumar.

When the judge asked Kumar if he had anything to say, he requested the court for a minimum possible sentence since his parents were ailing. The prosecution, however, sought the maximum punishment to set an example in society against dowry.

Special public prosecutor G. Mohanraj later told reporters that the quantum of punishment was along expected lines. “Under the Dowry Prohibition Act alone he got a six-year sentence and a penalty of Rs 10 lakh,” he said.