The bodies of a 30-year-old woman and her four-year-old daughter were retrieved from a locked bathroom at Koranda village under Rajkanika police station in Kendrapada district on Saturday morning.
The deceased was identified as Surekha Behera, wife of Bikram Behera and her four-year dauther Sneha of Koranda village.
The bodies have been seized and sent for autopsy to the Ali CHC, informed Patamundai SDPO Kedarnath Sahu.
Surekha’s brother Samarendra Behera lodged an FIR at the Rajkanika PS alleging that in-laws killed them and then burnt their bodies with kerosene to colour their crime as suicidal death. The in-laws killed his sister for dowry, alleged Samarendra.
According to the SDPO, Surekha, daughter of Harish Chandra Behera of Anantapur, had Married Bikram Sahu, son of Brundaban Sahu of Koranda village. After few months of the marriage, Bikram and his parents started demanding more dowries and tortured her physically and mentally as she failed to meet their demand.
On Friday night, Surekha was allegedly tortured physically by her husband and her in-laws after an altercation erupted between them for dowry. Then the family members killed her and the daughter and set them ablaze.
Police have detained Surekha’s husband Bikram Sahu and father-in-law Brundaban Sahu after registering a case under the Dowry Prevention Act, informed the SDPO.