Chencho Dema

On April 25,  Punakha dzongkhag court sentenced a 42-year-old man to 14 years and 10 months in prison for raping his daughter.

The court directed the defendant, from Wangdue, to compensate the victim with Nu 135,000 within a month of the verdict. Failure to comply will result in an additional three years of imprisonment being added to his current sentence.

The defendant has 10 days to appeal.

Background

Last year, a woman in her 20s alleged that her father had been sexually abusing her since she was 14 years old. Following the mother’s discovery of the alleged abuse, she reported the crime to the police, leading to the arrest and detention of the father.

The victim claimed that the abuse had occurred over a period of six years and that she had been threatened by her father not to disclose it to anyone.

During the interrogation, the father confessed to the crime. Subsequently, Punakha police charged the father with rape of a child above 12 years and incest.