The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) report reveals a rise in sexual violence cases in the year 2023 compared to the previous year, while simultaneously experiencing a decrease in suicide cases.
According to RBP report, the number of sexual violence offences increased from 112 in 2022 to 137 in 2023. However, there was a significant surge in specific categories of sexual violence crimes.
RBP recorded a drastic increase in gang rape cases involving children below the age of 12. Shockingly, there were 77 such offences in 2023, compared to none in the previous year.
Additionally, child molestation cases rose from 15 to 19, criminal attempts to rape of married person went from zero in 2022 to 2 in 2023, and pedophilia saw 1 reported case in 2023 compared to none in 2022 and 1 reported case of gang rape of married person in 2023, compared to none in the previous year.
However, certain categories of sexual violence offences saw a complete shutdown. The RBP recorded zero cases of rape involving children above the age of 12 in 2023, compared to 41 cases in 2022. Indecent exposure and cases of incest and bestiality also saw a decline, with zero cases reported in 2023 compared to 3 and 1 cases respectively in 2022.
On the other hand, the report revealed slight decrease in numbers of incidents of suicide cases. The RBP recorded 97 cases, down from 113 in 2022.
Gelephu reported the highest number of suicides with 14 victims, followed by Thimphu with 12 victims and Samtse with 10 victims.
The age-wise statistics uncover that the majority of arrests for sexual violence offences were individuals aged 25 and above, with 97 arrests in 2023 compared to 67 in 2022. The victims of sexual violence were predominantly below the age of 17, with 118 cases reported in 2023, a significant increase from 52 cases in 2022.
Regarding suicide cases, the data revealed that individuals aged 25 and above accounted for the highest number of suicides, with 72 cases in 2023 and 84 in 2022.
Furthermore, while the overall number of suicides decreased, male suicide cases remained higher than female cases. In 2023, there were 73 male suicides and 24 female suicides and 76 male suicides and 37 female suicides in 2022.
