The Wangdue Phodrang District Court sentenced two men to life imprisonment in two separate cases of statutory rape. The court passed the judgements yesterday. Both incidents happened last year.
A 23-year-old man working as a sales boy in of the shops in Bajo town has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a six-year-old girl in September last year. According to the judgment, the convict took the girl below Bajo Lhakhang during the time of the incident by telling that her father had called her to celebrate her birthday. The judgment also states that the convict had battered the girl when she yelled for help.
The court also ordered the convict to pay a sum of Nu 3,15,000 as compensation to the girl’s parents within three months from the day of judgement.
Another man, a 23-year-old farmer has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of a seven-year-old girl in July last year. According to the judgment, the convict had forcefully caught the girl while she was returning home from school. The judgment states that the convict’s parents had paid 1,20,000 ngultrum as compensation to the girl’s parents while the case was in court.
The court ordered the concerned agencies and parents to submit the report of the mental status and physical health of the girls, to court annually till they attain 18 years of age.
Changa Dorji, Wangdue Phodrang
Edited by Phub Gyem