The Dagana District Court, on Wednesday, sentenced a 17 year-old-boy to 16 years in prison for statutory rape of a five-year-old girl. According to the Penal code of Bhutan, the offence of statutory rape shall be a first-degree felony with a minimum prison term of fifteen years and a maximum of life imprisonment.
Since the convict being a minor, the life sentence was halved by the average life expectancy of sixty-six years of a Bhutanese life record. The difference of this sentence with his current age, which is 17, is calculated at 16 years, which the convict will be serving in the prison.
The convict, according to the Child Protection Act, will serve the prison term at Tsimasham, Youth Development and Rehabilitation Centre under Chhukha Dzongkhag
The court asked the convict’s father to compensate the girl with Nu 45,000 which is a minimum wage for a year.
The incident took place in September.
The girl was with her stepfather when the incident occurred. The convict, who is their neighbour, came to their house that day and when the stepfather was busy with the household chores he lured the girl to come along to a shop, a few metres away from their house.
The parents noticed scratch marks and lot of bleeding when she came back home. With much hesitation, the girl told her parents about how the convict raped her. Then it was reported to the police leading to his arrest.
Namgay Wangchuk
