Thimphu police arrested a 47-year-old man for alleged rape of a 14-year old student on September 5.

Thimphu police’s officer-in-command, Major Wangdi, said that officials from Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National Referral Hospital’s (JDWNRH) forensic unit reported the matter to police when the student was brought for medical examination.

It was learnt that the suspect is the girl’s maternal aunt’s husband and the crime took place when the girl’s parents left her for a night with them when the parents had to leave somewhere in February. The aunt, who works in one of the hotels in the Thimphu, was out for work when the incident took place.

According to the police, the school authority, after noticing unusual physical growth and sickness in the student, called the parents and asked them to take her for medical check up. “The girl was found to be six months pregnant during the medical examination,” the OC said.

Police said that the suspect, who is a father of four, confessed to the crime. He works as a mason.

According to the Penal Code of Bhutan 2004, a defendant shall be guilty of the offence of rape of a child above the age of twelve years if the defendant commits any act of sexual intercourse against a child between the age of twelve and eighteen years. The offence is graded a second-degree felony.

Police will forward the case to the Office of Attorney General.

Yeshey Dema