The MP has denied the allegations

Chencho Dema

Trongsa police arrested the Member of Parliament (MP) from the opposition party yesterday morning for allegedly molesting a child two years ago. The court granted him bail on the same day.

Police officials said that the MP’s immunity expired on July 23. According to the Parliament Act, MPs cannot be summoned 15 days prior to and 15 days after a parliamentary session.

Police officials said that the police sought the arrest warrant from the court and after he was arrested, he was produced before the court.

In his statement to Trongsa police, the MP has denied all allegations against him and asked the police to thoroughly investigate the case to bring out the truth.

Sources told Kuensel that the MP had brought along his lawyer to the police station.

The PEMA Secretariat lodged the case with the Trongsa police on July 9 after the mother brought her 16-year-old daughter for treatment.

The mother claimed that the MP molested her daughter two years back when he worked as gewog administration officer of Nubi gewog.

In an earlier interview with Kuensel, the girl’s mother said that the MP had gone inside her house and grabbed her left breast. That time, the mother had gone to collect mushrooms with her friends.

The girl’s family was living in a small house owned by the MP’s elder brother, next to the MP’s house. 

In an earlier interview with Kuensel, the MP denied the allegations. He said that during the time of the incident, he was cleaning the drain outside the house and had gone inside the girl’s house to ask for a hard broom. When he found the girl sleeping with the blanket covered, he pulled the blanket and that’s when he accidentally touched the girl.

Sources told Kuensel that the issue was resolved internally then.

The mother said that the MP gave her daughter a laptop. The MP however told Kuensel that he had given an old laptop to the girl’s family but it had nothing to do with the incident. He said that he also used to give clothes and other items to the family. 

The mother and the daughter visited the PEMA Secretariat recently for treatment as the daughter was unwell and had recounted this incident.