Phurpa Lhamo  

The Office of Attorney General (OAG) on May 13 charged a 19-year-old man from Orong with statutory rape, incest and battery of a minor at the Pemagatshel dzongkhag court.

According to OAG charges, the victim, an 11-year-old girl was raped twice- once in March and on April 3 by her cousin. The victim was staying with the accused’s elder brother and his wife when the incident happened, while the accused stayed with his parents.

On April 23, the accused’s sister-in-law with whom the victim stayed filed a complaint following a confrontation with the accused and his sister.

According to the charge sheet, in March, the victim and daughter of the complainant were kept home with the accused to take care of them. It was later learned that the accused had raped the victim and threatened her to keep silent.

Later, on April 3, the complainant had an argument with her husband, after, which she ran off to her neighbour’s place. On the pretext of looking for her, the accused took the victim away from home and raped her.  When the victim returned home, the daughter of the complainant saw mud on the victim’s back.

On April 23, the daughter informed the complainant about the incident, following which the complainant informed the accused’s sister.

The same day, when the accused and his sister visited the complainant’s home, it was said that he slapped the victim twice. The complainant, then, informed the police.

The suspect was arrested for interrogation. On May 8, the police forwarded the investigation report to the OAG. The accused was charged with two counts of statutory rape and incest, and battery, which is crime of first-degree felony, misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor respectively.