The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Sunil Rai, a prisoner of Chamgang jail, has been sentenced to a prison term of 14 years, 11 months and 29 days for killing his cellmate.
He was convicted to second-degree voluntary manslaughter.
The Thimphu District Court found him guilty of voluntary manslaughter under Section 140(b) of the Penal Code. As a second-degree offense under Section 141, this crime carries a sentencing range of 9 years minimum to 15 years maximum.
What led to this particular sentencing was that he admitted to the commission of the offence. As per his confessions, in the statements he mentioned that on 17th August 2024, at around 3am, he woke up to find the victim near him, attempting to remove his shorts to commit sodomy. Frustrated and angry at his repeated attempts, the perpetrator struck him on the back of the head with a bed plank that was in their room. The deceased cried out in pain, yelling ‘Alah’, however, Sunil continued to hit him approximately six more times on the head. As the deceased was still alive, he strangled him with a belt until he died.
The post-mortem report confirmed multiple head injuries and line marks around the neck as the cause of death, most likely inflicted by wooden plank and ring buckle belt which were seized from the prison cell. The injuries included skull fractures, cuts, and a line mark measuring 39cm in length around the neck.
Since the defendant had prior criminal record and with the severity of the offence, the court imposed a sentence at the higher end of the permissible range which was a prison term of 14 years, 11 months and 29 days, starting from the date of arrest.
The court also ordered that the accused, who suffers from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, should receive proper medical treatment even though in prison.
He was arrested on 18th August 2024 for the additional charges from the prison and sentenced on 28th November 2024.
The deceased was serving a 5-year prison term for burglary.
Sunil is already serving a life imprisonment for murdering a couple in their forties in Tsirang. The couple’s bodies were discovered inside a septic tank behind their house.
Following a heated argument with his adopted parents, he murdered both of them with machete and even attacked the couple’s son. The son managed to escape and asked for help from the neighbors which led to uncovering the incident and ultimately to his arrest.
The incident had occurred in February last year when the convict was 22-year-old, and now he is 23.
The couple adopted the convict since childhood and he was helping them in their farm.
He was sentenced on 15th June 2023 by Tsirang District Court.
