The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The gruesome murder of the 24-year-old Namgay Dolkar has shaken Bhutanese society and the police are continuing their investigation in the case.
Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) using the phone number of Namgay Dolkar have been able to get into her WhatsApp and Telegram Account but they have not been able to find much so far.
This is because according to her alleged murderer Sonam they used WhatsApp only for official chat and work while they used Telegram to conduct their affair.
The problem for the RBP is that on Telegram even one of the people on the chat can remove the entire chat history and there will even be no indication that it has been removed unlike WhatsApp which shows ‘message deleted’.
The other possibility is they mutually deleted their Telegram chats to hide the affair.
Given that Namgay had three facebook accounts of hers and they were not linked to her phone number the RBP could not use her phone number to get into her facebook accounts.
However, mysteriously somebody changed her profile picture.
They were also unable to get into Namgay’s email account as it was not linked to her phone.
The RBP is trawling through the chat history to see what additional evidence they can get.
The RBP is also trying to forensically extract information from Sonam’s phone but Sonam has one of the latest iPhones where any system upgrade makes it difficult to retrieve deleted messages on the phone.
The RBP, however, is still trying to extract information from it.
So far no new eyewitnesses or evidences has come to the fore.
However, section 35 of the Evidence Act allows for expert opinion on the case which in this case is the forensic report done by the forensic doctor.
This is apart from the police investigation of his vehicle movement and the changing statements of Sonam.
The RBP said final charges to be set against Sonam will depend on the outcome of the investigation. While the RBP can recommend charges the final charges will be set by the Office of the Attorney General.
Sonam is expected to be charged under homicide which is section 137 of the penal code that says ‘a conduct that causes the death of a person and includes murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and negligent homicide.’
Under homicide Sonam could be booked under anything from the toughest section which is murder to voluntary manslaughter to the lightest one being involuntary manslaughter.
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 the commission or attempted commission of another felony.
The offence of murder shall be a felony of the first degree which shall be a minimum of fifteen years and a maximum of life imprisonment.
A defendant shall be guilty of the offence of voluntary manslaughter, if the defendant: Possess the intention to kill but without premeditated malice, acts under the violence of sudden passion occasioned by some great provocation such that a reasonable person would be induced to cause the death of other person; or with vicious intent to cause serious bodily injury to a person causes the death of that person.
The offence of voluntary manslaughter shall be a felony of the second degree which is a term of minimum nine years and a maximum of less than fifteen years.
A defendant shall be guilty of the offence of involuntary manslaughter, if: the conduct that leads to the death of the victim is committed during the defendant’s commission of a reckless act; the conduct that leads to the death of the victim is committed during the commission of another unlawful act other than a felony; or a homicide that would otherwise be murder is committed under the immediate influence of extreme mental or emotional distress for which there is reasonable explanation or excuse.
The offence of involuntary manslaughter shall be a felony of the fourth degree and has a minimum of three years and a maximum of less than five years.
Background
A private 38-year-old businessman called Sonam who was in a relationship with Namgay for the last six months allegedly said they had an altercation where he squeezed her neck and then Namgay killed herself in front of him by jumping into the river from a bridge.
However, CCTV evidence of his car movement, testimony from Namgay’s family and friends, Sonam’s changing stories and the forensic report showing her death before drowning ruled out suicide and show she was murdered with pressure to the neck by Sonam.
