The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has charged a 19-year-old student for statutory rape, incest, and child battery of an 11-year-old girl in Pema Gatshel.
The OAG forwarded the case to Pema Gatshel District Court yesterday.
According to the chargesheet, the accused had raped the victim twice in March and April this year. But the victim did not report it as the accused had threatened to beat her if she shared about the incidents to anyone.
The victim and the accused lived in the same neighbourhood and were cousins. The victim lived with her brother and his family.
The OAG investigation report states that the niece of the victim who had known about the incident had confided to her mother, the sister- in-law of the victim. The sister-in-law had then asked the sister of the accused to come for a discussion on April 23.
The OAG report states that the accused slapped the victim when he came to their house along with his sister to discuss the issue.
The case was reported to the police by the victim’s sister-in-law.
The accused is a student in one of the schools in Pema Gatshel and was staying with his parents.
According to the Penal Code of Bhutan, statutory rape is a felony of the first degree, which has a minimum prison term of 15 years to life. Incest is a misdemeanour with minimum prison term of one to three years. Child battery is also a petty misdemeanour with minimum prison term of one month to one year.
Chenga Dorji
