The Bhutanese Leading the way.
24-year-old Sonam Choden met a gruesome death on the early morning of 31 March in lower Motithang below the Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) Office when she was assaulted by a 32-year-old man.
However, Sonam is not just another crime statistic, but was a real person, with a real life albeit as difficult and short as it was, and a series of unfortunate events and twists in her life led to her murder. Sonam’s murder also raises much larger questions.
Losing her mother at an early age
Sonam is originally from a resettled family (Zhisar) in Tsirangtoed Gewog in Tsirang with her father being from Lhuentse and her mother from Trashigang.
Family members said that Sonam lost her mother at around the age of five or six, and not long after that, her father remarried and had his own family.
From class four onwards she came to Thimphu to stay with her late mother’s younger sister who was married to an RBG soldier, and she attended school at Dechencholing.
Her father Kinley Dorji who is a civil servant in Thimphu said that Sonam was a weak student and could not do well in studies. He used to pay her the occasional visit when she was staying with her aunt in the RBG camp.
Kinley said that Sonam dropped out in class eight and refused to study anymore, and after that she insisted on getting married and having a family. He said they are all from a nyamchung background.
A divorce and homeless
Her aunt Jigme Choden said that Sonam met a RBG soldier and they fell in love, which is why she dropped school and got married.
Her aunt said that the couple had a son who is now six-years-old, however, the soldier came back from a training and divorced Sonam six months ago.
The aunt said that despite being divorced by her husband, Sonam still loved him.
The son was taken by the husband’s parents in Punakha, and Sonam effectively became homeless and without a family.
Joining nightclubs
It was at this time that Sonam, desperate to make a living, decided to join the nightclub and Karaoke scene as a waitress. She worked in two clubs before joining ‘Black and White Karaoke’ three months ago in Thimphu town as a waitress to serve drinks and help set up the Karaoke machines for guests.
Kinley Dorji said he and other family members tried to convince her not to join the clubs and karaoke, but she did not listen.
The manager of the ‘Black and White Karaoke’ Phuntsho Wangmo said that Sonam joined saying that she is divorced, and she now needs a job to support herself and her son.
After her divorce, Sonam had no real place to stay in Thimphu, and so she stayed as a guest or room-mate with her female colleagues in the industry, frequently switching her place of stay between them, according to her last roommate Leki Wangmo who also worked in the same karaoke bar, and with whom Sonam had been staying for three days until her death.
Family members and the manager describe Sonam as a very quiet person and an introvert.
Sonam’s aunty and the manager both said that Sonam, at times, would be so quiet that she would not even reply when someone talked to her.
The manager got the distinct impression that Sonam suffered from some kind of depression, but besides mentioning she was divorced and had a son to support, she would not share anything else about her personal life.
The manager said that Sonam had an alcohol problem, and she would be on leave suddenly and at times, come drunk to work. The manager said that Sonam’s personality changed when drunk, and she could get aggressive and even pick fights with strangers.
The manager said she did not let Sonam go, as she, herself, is a mother and felt sorry for Sonam and her son’s predicament.
The night of the incident
On the fateful night, the manager said that Sonam came in drunk, but she did her 6.30 pm to 3 am shift. By the end of it, Sonam’s roommate had asked Sonam that they go together and stay with another work colleague as they needed to help her shift.
Sonam, who was drunk refused, and also refused to take the key the roommate offered to her apartment in the Changangkha area.
Her friend and her work colleagues then left, and Sonam was on her own.
The suspect confessed to the RBP that at around 9:30 pm, the suspect along with his cousin went to several karaoke bars.
Late night on the way home, upon reaching the opposite of the Eight Eleven store parking, they came across a lady (Sonam Choden) crying.
Upon asking the lady on the reason she was crying all alone, she didn’t say anything.
Then the suspect asked her to spend the night at his place. Initially the deceased resisted and then agreed to halt the night in his father’s office in the attic and leave the following day.
Two of them reserved a taxi and the three went to the suspect’s residence. The taxi, after dropping them, went his way and the cousin also went home to sleep directly.
The cousin shared to RBP that he decided to go home directly leaving the two of them since it was already past 4 am in the morning by the time they reached in their residence parking.
Also, upon interrogation, RBP came to know that the deceased and suspect were totally unknown to each other.
The suspect, upon interrogation by RBP, said that the victim was not willing to go to his home after reaching the parking. In the heat of argument, the victim slapped the suspect, which angered him, and in a state of blackout, he does not remember what happened. By the time he realized and came back to sense, he had beaten the woman to death.
Sonam sustained severe injuries on her face with multiple fractures, as she was attacked with a lot of force. Her left arm has injuries indicated she tried to defend herself from the attack. There were marks on her right wrist indicating the attacker had gripped it, and had been pulling her. Abrasion on a body part showed that she had been dragged while lying down and there were also strangulation marks around her neck indicating that she was also strangled by the attacker.
According to sources though, there were no spermatozoa and hymenal injuries, but rape also could be ruled out given the absence of innerwear on her body coupled with the discovery of her innerwear with a period pad nearby.
As per a forensic report, the cause of death is due to multiple hits to the face and strangulation.
A blood test of the victim confirmed alcohol but no drugs.
The attacker is said to have mental problems, and is known to be violent having attacked his teacher in a school in Thimphu, and also another teacher while studying in Sikkim.
The mental state of the attacker is known, in part, by the fact that he did not do much to cover his tracks. The blood drops and stains followed the attacker till his room, and he had even slept in the blood-soaked jumper he committed the crime in.
The suspect had hidden her body behind a BPC meter box located beside his residence, Namo building, which is near the DGPC office.
The incident was brought to light on 31 March, when the RBP received an initial complaint of abandonment of infant.
The RBP shared that the reason for an initial complaint, which was made as abandonment of infant, was because the deceased hands were seen from the meter box, and the complainant didn’t go near to check the body.
After the RBP team reached the crime scene, it was discovered to be a body of a woman.
Upon checking nearby CCTV footages, the RBP came to know that the woman was getting out of a taxi with two men, which directed them to the suspect who was residing in the nearest building captured on the footage.
Further, the CCTV footage captured the suspect stamping on the victim.
When the RBP went to arrest him, he had the jumper shirt which had blood stains from the incident, and rest of the clothes were dumped in the bathroom, which was seized too.
The suspect, upon interrogation, confessed to murdering the woman.
RBP found bricks and a bloody log used by the suspect to beat the victim, after which he disposed the body in the crime scene. He then went home, and by the time it was morning, he came back and hid the body with carton board.
The suspect’s parents, however, are claiming that the suspect is mentally not well, which the RBP is investigating, and the suspect is being sent for medical examination.
The RBP said that whether he is mentally well or not, a crime has been committed and someone’s life has been taken, and so accordingly he is detained.
Whether his claim is genuine or not, it will only be known once the medical experts assess him.
Family wants law to take its course
The victim’s father, Kinley, said that in a Buddhist country, even the killing of an animal is a big issue, and in this case, a human has been killed.
He said the law needs to set a precedent so that such things do not happen again, and others cannot think of even doing such things. He said people should fear the law, otherwise such things will keep happening.
He said he believes this is one country with one law for everyone.
When asked about the 32-year-old attackers mental condition, the father said that being mentally unbalanced does not given an excuse to commit murder.
The aunty also said that the law should take its course.
The father has taken care of the funeral expenses, while the aunty is helping do the rituals.
Larger questions
The death of Sonam Choden raises several questions. The first is on the safety of women in Thimphu, especially at odd hours, and also why the taxi driver did not report suspicious behavior or do anything.
The second question is on why the 32-year-old man said to have mental problems was not receiving medical care and medication, and why he was allowed to be out so late at night, given his condition. This raises further questions on the lack of adequate medical care or help for people with such conditions in Bhutan.
The third question is on the social and family safety net for people, like Sonam, who fall through the cracks coming from a broken family, and obviously with a lot of issues.
Even after a difficult childhood, Sonam was a settled housewife and the divorce came as a big blow, and she had nothing to support her, both materially and psychologically, after that leading to her joining the clubs and a karaoke bar for employment.
There are questions on the legal and economic support for such vulnerable women and what opportunities can be given to them.
The case raises several questions on the underbelly of Bhutanese society that is ignored or glossed over by both governments and larger society.
