The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Nganglam Dungkhag Court in Pemagatshel convicted a police officer, OC Jamyang Dorji of Nganglam to six months in prison for sexually harassing a female police constable. He was convicted as per Section 205 of the Penal Code of Bhutan 2004. The section states that a defendant shall be guilty of sexual harassment, if the defendant makes unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal abuse of sexual nature.
The case came into the limelight after an anonymous person posted the allegation of the police officer sexually harassing the female constable on the social media. A letter was also addressed to Chief of Police seeking justice in January this year.
The police officer was accused of inappropriate touching and sharing of inappropriate photos with the victim who was a newly recruited constable. The police carried out a court of inquiry against the officer after which the case was forwarded to the Nganglam Police Station.
Accordingly, the case was investigated and charge sheeted to the court. It was learnt that the female constable has asked for a transfer, but the request was denied by the officer
As per the judgment, although the offence has a greater culpability, however, he is given half the sentence, as the victim had no evidence showing the greater impact on her mental health due to the incident.
The defendant can, however, pay fine in lieu of imprisonment. The judgment was passed on 31 October 2022.
The defendant has appealed to the higher court before ten working days from the day of judgment.
First, why didn’t the Bhutanese include some comments from the police officer in question to make the news more authentic? It’s just biased news, and prejudicial for the person concerned. I only wish why we can’t be better than this at informing the correct news. no wonder your paper is sensationalizing. you will create a huge mess in the country once.
I have come to understand that the case has been appealed for loads of reasons the police officer has to prove he is not guilty. Considering the lady constable’s double or triple-faced approach, in this case, she seems to have gathered support and gained momentum in cornering the police officer even after getting what she wants after using the police officer. I think there is hard evidence, but it got in her favour this time. The police officer himself was such a performance-oriented person and achieved feats in enforcing the law in the places he served. Right from serving the country at a critical juncture when the country was going through a time during operation ‘flush out’ to serving always in remote parts where no police officers wanted to go … I think he did his part (you could just ask the public in the places he served to crosscheck). He was also strict when it came to law enforcement and for being a strict police officer for the country’s benefit (to bring down drug abuse among youth and other crimes), people have targeted him misunderstanding his conduct.
Coming to the case, people must first understand the background or else you just cannot go making such sweeping comments. It’s unfortunate but you will only know when you are going through the same fate. Harassment if we dissect could be interpreted and perceived in many ways. It’s untoward for the likes of BBS and media outlets who are into feeding shallow news to garner public interest from the same kind of people. The case would go long until justice and the truth is dispensed. For now, harassment is going the other way.