The High Court has sentenced 39-year-old Sonam Norbu to life imprisonment for the murder of 24-year-old Namgay Dolkar. The court convicted him of murder after establishing the presence of premeditated malice. Premediated malice is the intentional planning and execution of a killing. The judgment was passed today.
According to the judgment, evidence such as CCTV footage shows Sonam Norbu meeting and picking up the deceased from the NPPF colony which contradicted his claims. He appealed to the high court asserting his innocence.
Similarly, the court dismissed his claim that Namgay Dolkar died by suicide. The judgment stated that had it been a suicide, he should have prevented it or alerted the relevant authorities or her family members about the incident.
Furthermore, the court ruled that there was no reason for Namgay Dolkar to have died by suicide, as she was physically and mentally healthy.
The court has ordered Sonam Norbu to pay almost Nu 493,000 for funeral expenses incurred by the deceased’s family, in accordance with the Penal Code of Bhutan. He must settle the amount within a month from today, the date of judgment.
The incident occurred in August 2023, when the deceased was found 500 metres downstream of Khariphu Bridge in Thimphu, a day after she was reported missing.
The Thimphu district court convicted Sonam Norbu to nearly 15 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter last December. Although the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) initially charged him with murder, the prosecution was unable to prove due to insufficient evidence.
Both the OAG and Sonam Norbu appealed to the high court in January this year.
Tashi Dekar
Edited by Tshering Zam & Sonam Pem
