Wamrong Case: powerful vs commoner
You cannot question the authority for its actions.
This was the primary principle of governance in Bhutan for centuries. Post ‘guided democratic’ changes, little has changed to diffuse the perception among the elite members of Bhutanese community that it is a void in democracy.
Misuse of authority and privilege for abuse and personal gain is a culture in Bhutan. Only a handful of cases appear in the public domain whereas vast majority are socially and economically silenced. The incident that come in the public domain also fail to hold its presence or leave a mark in absence of conscious civil society, strong media and awaken citizens.
The last instance of such event is from eastern district – wife of a judge in a subdivisional court abusing and assaulting her neighbour for reasons not known. The incident happened in the last week of April but came into limelight almost a month later.
During this period, the victim was reportedly given pressure for compromise to settle the case outside the court and police. It is a traditional practice in Bhutan to settle cases outside courts or tribunals. In many cases, courts too encourage such practice obliquing its obligation of giving a verdict when case is registered for judicial proceedings.
The Wamrong case drew public attention, increasing criticism of the judicial system, justice delivery, police behaviour and social hierarchy that is fuelling abuses and prejudices based on social status of an individual. The general sentiment that justice delivery is biased is ever increasing.