The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) charged a 19-year-old man of voluntary manslaughter after he hit a policeman on the head with a knife earlier this year.

The policeman, with another colleague, visited the crime scene to investigate a case in which the accused was a prime suspect.

The incident happened on January 16, this year.

A taxi driver, Yonten Jamtsho was driving from Thimphu to Paro with four passengers.

The taxi stopped after four men were on the highway near the Shaba Higher Secondary School but one of the men, Thinley Peljor, kicked on the bumper of the taxi and taxi driver Yonten Jamtsho slapped the accused on the face.

Then the other four men fighting on the road charged at the taxi driver.  A passenger, Dorji Karchung, took out a cue stick from the taxi and hit Thinley Peljor on his left arm.

The four then ran above the road and started pelting the car with stones. Thinley Peljor dropped his mobile phone on the road. Dorji Karchung, a passenger, picked up the phone, got into the taxi and they escaped.

Yonten Jamtsho along with a passenger reported the incident to the Paro police station. Two policemen accompanied the taxi driver to visit the site of the crime but the five men had fled the scene.

The police answered a call on Thinley Peljor’s mobile phone when his mother called. The mother and sister came to the scene as asked by the policemen.

While the taxi driver was explaining to the mother and sister, Thinley Peljor came with a dragger and struck the taxi driver on the hand. The taxi driver’s wristwatch was damaged.

When Thinley Peljor made the second attempt, policeman Namgay Tshewang intervened and was hit on his forehead. Medical examination showed he suffered 4.05 centimetres but ruled it was not fatal.

Both Thinley Peljor, and the taxi driver, Yonten Jamtsho, suffered bruises from the scuffle.

The OAG charged Thinley Peljor on two counts: voluntary manslaughter, and malicious mischief.

The three other men were charged with malicious mischief for intentionally or recklessly causing damage to private property of another person, which is a misdemeanour and liable for prison terms ranging between one and three years.

The taxi driver, Yonten Jamtsho, is also charged with battery for slapping the prime accused.

The OAG prosecutor asked the court to order Thinley Peljor to compensate policeman Namgay Tshewang for the injury.

Tshering Palden

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