The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) have charged 26-year-old Tshering Cheten (Choiten), the main accused in the murder of 13-year-old Sumitra Chhetri in Pamtsho, Thimphu with felony murder.
The case was forwarded to the District Court in Thimphu, and is currently ongoing.
The police forwarded the case to the OAG on 20 June 2024 with all supporting evidence, which includes DNA and blood samples.
The suspect confessed to the crime during interrogation by RBP.
Felony murder means the committing of murder in the course of a felong which in this case was attempted rape.
As per Penal Code of Bhutan, a defendant shall be guilty of the offence of murder, if the defendant commits a homicide knowingly and deliberately with premeditated malice or while in commission or attempted commission of another felony.
The offence of murder shall be a felony of first degree.
A defendant convicted of felony of first degree shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment, a minimum of which shall be fifteen years and a maximum of which shall be life imprisonment.
Background of the case
13-year-old Sumitra Chhetri, a class 6 student in Dechencholing Higher Secondary School staying in Pamtsho, headed out of her home in the morning of 23 May 2024 with the aim of going with her class friends to Dechenphu Lhakhang.
Sumitra and her elder sister were living with their mother and step-father in Pamtsho.
She was supposed to go and meet up with a school friend, and they were supposed to join a few more friends and go together. However, her friend had left a little earlier and so she was alone.
She never turned up at the Lhakhang to meet her friends there, and went missing.
Her worried family lodged a Missing of Person (MoP) report at 8 pm with the Thimphu police station.
The North Thimphu Police Station mobilized and conducted searches in and around Pamtsho, Dechencholing and along the Pamtsho-Dechencholing highway.He family also started looking for her.
The following day, one of the family members found her body in the forest below the Pamtsho-Dechencholing highway.
The police found that the deceased suffered multiple injuries on her face and also strangulation marks on the neck. The body had been partially covered with dried pine leaves.
The first breakthrough for the police found CCTV footage of the Pamtsho road where the suspect in dark clothing was walking behind the victim at 9.03 am on 23 May.
The police then checked the CCTV footage at the Dechencholing gate, which showed that neither Sumitra or the suspect exited from the other side.
The suspicion of the police strengthened, and they then backtracked the movement of the suspect through CCTV cameras. Another breakthrough happened when a CCTV camera captured the full body and face of the suspect.
The police using a series of private CCTV cameras backtracked his movement all the way to the main Thimphu town where he was found loitering at around 6 am in the morning. He was found moving to Pamtsho where CCTV cameras captured him around the time of the crime.
The police then tracked his mobile number and the tower location was found to be in Ramthangkha in Paro.
The Paro police were informed and they arrested the suspect on 30 May 2024 at 8 pm and escorted him to the North Thimphu police station for further investigation.
Upon interrogation, the suspect confessed to committing the murder under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
To cover his tracks, he did not head back up to the road but descended down to the river level and exited from the path there.
An investigation by The Bhutanese showed that the victim was already known to the suspect and hence there is a degree of pre-mediation.
