Staff reporter

Gelephu drungkhag court sentenced a 26-year-old man from Samtse to 10 years in prison for raping a 15-year-old student.

The employee of a Gelephu-based private company, Keshab Rai, was found guilty of raping the minor on the night of August 31 last year after picking her and a friend from a far-flung gewog and spending the night with her in a hotel in Gelephu.

 The man was found guilty of violating section 183 of the amended Penal Code of Bhutan 2011, which states, “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 ages of twelve to eighteen years.”

 The offence is graded a second-degree felony with a prison term ranging from nine years to 15 years.

The judgment stated that the victim was the defendant’s former wife’s sister and they kept in touch on Facebook.

 The court also ordered the Keshab Rai to pay a compensation of Nu 46,000 to the victim in accordance with section 36 and 202 of the Penal Code.

 Section 36 states, “A Court may order a defendant to pay appropriate damages or reparation for any loss, injury, or deterioration caused to a victim” and section 202 states, “The victim shall be entitled to compensation as per the provision of the Penal Code.”

 The defendant has to pay the compensation within three months of the day the judgment was rendered.