Punakha District Court sentenced a 29-year-old man to 30 years in prison for stealing Ku-Sung Thukten and illegal sale of antiques. However, the buyer of the stolen items was acquitted due to lack of evidence beyond reasonable doubts.
The judgement was passed on November 20.
The convict, a former monk, stole two Buddha statues, two corals, a brocade piece and a cat’s eye on two different occasions from Nangsel Goenpa in Goenshari, Punakha.
The convict, who is known to the caretaker, had taken the items from the wardrobe where sacred relics of the monastery are kept. The incident happened last year.
As per the judgement, the stolen items were recovered and handed over to the Lam and caretaker of Nangsel Goenpa.
The buyer, a 34-year-old man from Haa, was acquitted because there was no concrete evidence to prove that he bought the stolen items knowingly. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) had initially charged the buyer as well.
Meanwhile, during the hearing of the case, the temple’s Lam had claimed that additional nine cat eyes were also missing from the wardrobe.
However, the Court dismissed the claim since the OAG had not mentioned about it in the charge-sheet or First Information Report of the police. The convict also refuted the allegation.
