Chencho Dema

The mother of a 16-year-old has accused a member of Parliament (MP) from the opposition, Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP), of molesting her daughter when she was 14 in Trongsa. 

The case was lodged by the PEMA Secretariat to the Trongsa police on July 9 after the mother brought her daughter in for consultation.

Police officials told Kuensel that the case has been lodged against the accused.

While the accused has not been informed about the incident because, under the Parliament Act, they could not summon the MP.

According to the Act, MPs cannot be summoned 15 days prior to and 15 days after a parliamentary session.

Police officials also said that they were gathering evidence and verifying statements with the witnesses.

Sources indicate that the incident occurred two years ago when the accused was a gewog Administration officer in Nubi Gewog in Trongsa.

At the time, the victim was 14 years old and in the eighth grade in one of the schools in Trongsa. The victim is currently studying in the tenth grade.

According to the victim, the accused grabbed her left breast in her house while her mother was in the forest with friends collecting mushrooms.

The victim’s mother said that while she was in the forest she received a call from her crying daughter, who couldn’t explain what had happened.

“Later, one of her friends told me that the then ADM sir had molested her,” she said.

The mother also said that the accused gave them a laptop which has been handed over to the police.

The mother also said that her daughter was not well since the incident and had to be taken to the PEMA Secretariat for further treatment.

Meanwhile, the accused denied the allegations and said it was an accident without an intention.

The accused said that he was cleaning the surrounding house and walked in the house of the victim to get the hard broom.

The victim was sleeping with the blankets covered. The accused said that he accidentally touched the victim while pulling the blanket.

He did agree that he had given the laptop to the victim but not because of the case.