A 20-year-old man from Bumthang had a fatal fall from a cliff on the way to Kuenselphodrang, above Druk School in Thimphu on June 28.

The incident happened between 10 to 11pm when the deceased, a class 12 graduate was with his friend, a 17-year-old girl. The girl who is from Haa is also a class 12 student at one of the schools in Thimphu.

According to the girl’s statement to police, the duo went for a walk and the man accidentally slipped off the cliff when they were playing.

The girl also fell when trying to hold the deceased’s hand. They fell about 15 feet off the cliff.

The girl told police that when she regained consciousness, she called one of her friends for help. The friend, however, thought it was a hoax. Her friends later came to rescue after they heard her crying in the message she had left on Facebook. The friends called the emergency hotline 112 for an ambulance.

She said that they were under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred.

The next day around 7pm, a doctor on duty at the national referral hospital’s emergency department reported the case to police. The patient was unconscious when he was brought to the hospital and was bleeding from the nose.

The girl sustained minor injuries and was discharged from the hospital the same day the incident occurred.

The man was kept at the hospital’s ICU (intensive care unit) before he succumbed to head injuries on July 1.

A doctor at the ICU said that when the man was brought to the hospital, he had internal bleeding. “He had suffered a brain hemorrhage and was brain dead when he was brought to the hospital.”

Meanwhile, it was learnt that an officer also broke his left leg and right arm while investigating the case.

Police are yet to rule out foul play and the case is under investigations.

Dechen Tshomo

Advertisement