Staff Reporter 

Wangdue dzongkhag court sentenced 21-year-old Kezang Norbu from Lauri in Samdrupjongkhar to nine years in prison for the rape of a minor on April 18 this year.     

The victim was 14 years and 11 months during the time of the incident. 

According to the judgment, the victim—a class VII student—had completed her exams on November 27 last year and was about to leave for home.




Her mother had come to pick her up from school and was loading luggage in the vehicle when the girl left to get shoes from a friend. 

While she didn’t meet her friend, she met her boyfriend (the convict) along with his friend. They left for Bajo town, where the friend of the convict separated. The duo had then gone into a hotel to indulge in sexual intercourse.

On the same day, the mother of the victim had filed a missing person report to the police. The convict was arrested the same day.




The Penal Code states that a person shall be guilty 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. However, consensual sex between children of sixteen years and above shall not be deemed to be rape.

The crime is graded as a second-degree felony with a prison term of a minimum of nine years and a maximum of fifteen years.

The victim and her mother declined the compensation from the convict.