Legal: Prosecutors from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) have charged a police constable for allegedly raping another constable’s wife on January 20.

The alleged incident took place on October 25 last year at the victim’s house in Hejo when she was sleeping alone in her room after a quarrel with her husband.

It was learnt that the husband was sleeping in the altar room with their children.

The victim’s statement to police stated that she had initially assumed it was her husband but later discovered it was another person. She then alerted her husband.

She also stated that at the time of the alleged incident, she forgot to latch the door, as she was under the influence of alcohol.

The husband, after finding the accused in his wife’s room, alerted people nearby and arrested him.

The accused, in his statement to police, denied the charge, claiming he doesn’t remember having sex with the victim, as he was drunk.

He also claimed that he got inside the room, mistaking it to be his own bedroom, since it was dark.

The accused also said he had to pass through the victim’s room to reach his bedroom since they share the same apartment.

“I crawled in the dark and found a mattress and assumed it to be my bed,” he stated. “I was shocked to learn that I was in someone else’s bedroom when I heard someone screaming.”

Police sent blood samples from both the accused and the victim for forensic examination to India.

OAG officials, based on the police investigation and medical report obtained from the hospital, charged him for the rape of a married woman.

The accused was charged for violating section 179 of the Penal Code, which states: “A defendant shall be guilty of the offence of rape of a married person, if the person rapes a married person.”

The crime was, therefore, graded a felony of the fourth degree. A felony of the fourth degree could mean a minimum of three years to a maximum or not less than five years imprisonment.

If found guilty, the accused shall be liable to pay gao (penalty for sexual misconduct) and Nu 26,250 to the victim’s husband as compensation.

Tashi Tenzin