Unsatisfied with the Dagana district court’s judgment on the case involving the rape of a 14-year-old schoolgirl, the Office of the Attorney General appealed the high court. In its judgment passed on the 20th of last month, the Dagana district court sentenced the convict, a 26-year-old man to 10 years in prison for the rape of a 14-year-old schoolgirl.
The OAG in its appeal stated that cases of rape of a child above twelve years in the country have been rampant and that the court should, therefore, punish the convict for harsher sentencing. The OAG appealed that harsher sentencing would instil fear among perpetrators to commit such crimes. The appeal also stated that convict’s act was against his fiduciary duty as a teacher and that he should be sentenced to a longer prison term.
The Penal Code of Bhutan grades the rape of a child above twelve years as a second-degree felony with a prison term ranging from nine to 15 years.
The incident occurred in October last year. The 26-year-old convict was a contract teacher in the same school in Dagana where the girl was studying. The convict sought permission from the matron to take the girl along with him to Tsirang to meet her father. According to a source, he lied to the matron while seeking approval stating that the girl’s parents who are in Gelegphu were getting a divorce and that the father asked him to get the girl till Tsirang. The convict also lied that the girl’s father was his close friend.
The two left for Tsirang on the morning of the 10th October by bus. The matron who was suspicious immediately called the parents in Gelegphu and learned that the entire story was made up just so they can visit Tsirang on their own.
According to sources, the two: the convict and the girl were in a relationship.
When they returned to school the same day, the girl confessed to having a relationship with the convict when the matron inquired. She also confessed to having a physical relationship with the convict in a hotel room in Tsirang.
The matron informed the principal immediately who then informed the police. The convict was arrested in the evening from the school campus.
Namgay Wangchuk
