Rapes and laws in Bhutan

Reportedly, rape wasn’t the social problem in Bhutan until recently despite the fact that Bhutanese are liberal to sex relations. However, government terms the fashionable projection of women as vulgar and put ban on all such activities, including viewing the fashion TVs.

The volumes of reports in the last few years have showed the grim pictures of Bhutanese society how rape victims were silenced in the past. It is natural, that many incidents relating to sexual violence go unnoticed or unreported in closed societies in fear that it would tarnish public image of the women, instead of the rapist. Bhutan cannot be the exception to this.

Rape cases, especially involving minors, are increasing at faster rate in the country in the last few years. Of the 28 reported cases of rape in Thimphu in the year 2008, eight were minors, below 18 years.

There were two cases of rape of six-year old girls in Thimphu and Sarpang last year. One of the convicts is at large while other has been sentenced. 

In 2007, a total of 27 cases of sexual abuses and rape were recorded with 18 minors, including a 28-month-old infant. Other 70 cases have been recorded in the past three years, of which 58 percent were minors.

A 28-year old soldier raped a 12 year-old girl on the night of December 25, 2008 while attending her grandmother who was admitted in Gidakom hospital.

On August 21, 2008 Thimphu dzongkhag court’s Bench II had its first preliminary hearing on the case of a 14-year-old who was raped and impregnated by her 45 year-old step father 33 weeks before. The father raped the girl when mother left home for Paro. Due to pregnancy, she has been knocked out of school.

“We see cases of minors being raped, sexually harassed and molested but most of these go unreported,” Lieutenant Karma Rigzin had said.

On July 31, 2008, the same court made a hearing in a case where a 30-year-old teacher sexually harassed and beaten up a 10-year-old student on May 31. It was on the daylight inside school where all staffs and student witnessed. The teacher and the parents of the child made efforts to solve the case internally but mother later reported it to the police.

On May 18, a four-year-old girl was raped in Phuentsholing by a 16 year-old boy and received only half of the punishment provisioned by the Penal Code.

The previous year, a 28-month-old infant was raped and thrown into an irrigation canal. The rapist was given a sentence of 14-and-a-half years.

In 2006, Tandin Gyaltshen, was sentenced to 18 years and ordered to pay a compensation of Nu 255,500 to the parents of his 11-month-old victim.

Between 2005 and 2008, more than 84 rape cases were reported across the kingdom, of which 71 were forwarded to court. Nine were on statutory rapes (sex with a child below 12) and 11 victims were minors above the age of 12.

On December 30, 2008, the High Court sentenced five soldiers of the Royal Bhutan Army aged 25-32 to 13 years each in prison for gangraping a 16-year old girl in Thimphu on the night of July 2, 2007. 

Four of the convicts, sentenced by Thimphu district court on April 2, 2008, appealed to the high court on April 29. The high court upheld the lower court verdict.

The fifth convict, acquitted by the district court on April 1, after having stayed nine months and 15 days in custody, was also sentenced to 13 years. His sentence was based on a report submitted by the police and the four other rapists. Police had charged files against them on January 1, 2008.

A six-year-old girl was raped in Thimphu in the last week of September 2008. 

These are only the reported cases of rape in Bhutan. The male dominance and public criticism compel the rape victims in Bhutan to hide their suffocations. The local authorities usually encourage settling the cases in villages thereby giving excuse for the rapist remain at large.

The rapists are usually the known by the victims but threats and intimidation bar the victims tell their stories. Forced sex with older women is not, culturally, regarded as rape and this made more and more women victims. The cases of rape are rampant in Zhemgang district where hundreds of children do not know who their fathers are. Houses with single women in the district are usually visited by men at night for forceful sex – referred as ‘night hunting’ in Bhutanese term. These are not the commercial sex workers because they are not paid.  

Laws are not so much strong to tackle the situation. According to the Penal Code of Bhutan, life imprisonment is given to those guilty of a felony of the first degree only. Section 181 and 182 of the Penal Code of Bhutan grades statutory rape as an offense of the second degree, punishable with 9-15 years of imprisonment. The rape of a child above the age of 12 is graded under Section 183 and 184 as a felony of the third degree in which rapist get imprisonment term of between five and nine years. Child molestation is a felony of the fourth degree while sexual harassment is rarely regarded as offense.

The National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC), which sees to the all types of violence against women and children, seems not be wary of the problem caused by rape cases. The country is signatory to the CRC and CEDAW, on which the government submits regular reports to the UN committees but back in the country, situation of girl child and women is worsening. The situation has never been reflected in the reports submitted to UN.