ROYAL BHUTAN POLICE: 2010

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Compensation clause accepted

To be commensurate with status of the wrongfully detained
Civil and Criminal Procedure Code 7 December, 2010 - The national assembly (NA) has agreed to the national council’s (NC) amendment in the civil and criminal procedure code to compensate people detained or subjected to unlawful detention but later acquitted.

The amendment comes at a time, when there have been several cases in recent years of people being detained for months, but later acquitted because of lack of evidence.

Discussing the amendments yesterday, NA’s legislative committee chairperson and Drametse- Narang representative, Ugyen Wangdi, said those victims end up being deprived of income and social status.

“They also suffer mentally,” he said, adding there were also a few cases in which people were detained without obtaining proper court order.

With this amendment people should now be able to seek compensation, he said.

“But this doesn’t apply to those, who’re called to court but aren’t detained,” he said.

Ugyen Wangdi told Kuensel that the compensations would be determined by the court ruling and based on the time period a person has been detained for.

For civil servants, the compensation amount will be based on monthly salary, average income for those in business, and the national minimum wage for people not holding full time jobs.

Gangzur-Minjay representative Karma Rangdol said it would be a violation of human rights if an acquitted person was not compensated.

Meanwhile, among others, a new section on “access of right”, which permitted a detainee to meet family members, besides their jabmi as stated earlier, was added.

“They’ll be allowed to meet families until investigation,” Ugyen Wangdi said. “But they won’t be allowed to talk anything related to the case.”

The house also added a new section on the non-bailable offence, which stated the court should not grant bail to a person, who has been charged with an offence against the security and sovereignty of the country.

In addition, an offence, which is above a prison term of nine to 15 years, will also not be granted bail.

In all, the house unanimously accepted 42 of the 49 amendments proposed by the national council. The bill that generated from the national council will be sent back to the council for re-deliberation.

By Yangchen C Rinzin
KUENSEL

Monday, August 16, 2010

Robbery - "a game, an adventure or a crime"

These days, Thimphu has seen rise in "Robbery". Actually, it is more of a snatching. Innocent people are deprived of their peace and social security. Youth in Thimphu are involved in Robbery. it has become a trend. what is becoming of us? why cant we keep our streets clean of vicious crimes?

comment!!!!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

TRAFFIC POLICE

"Your safety is Our Concern"

it is a very beautiful safety message. Good to read, pleasant to listen but how far is traffic police successful in achieving this Message or Motto.

Are the pedestrians safe?
Are the motorists safe?
Are the streets safe?
Are the National highway safe?
Are traffic police personnel professional enough to handle any violations?

comment....

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

RAPE

A 19 yr old girl wanted to withdraw the complaint that she had submitted against her brother in-law for RAPE. She is a civil servant trying to make a living in Thimphu and support her younger sister who is studying. She came to Thimphu in search of a job. She was one of those fortunate who had elder sister in Thimphu and she settled down with her. Her sister is married to a man (pervert). Her sister was employed and she worked for her living leaving behind her 1-year-old child at home. Since, she didn’t have a job in hand, she use to look after the child at home but her brother in-law took advantage of the situation (helplessness of her) and started to sexually abuse her. She couldn’t even tell her elder sister what was happening because of the fear that the family might breakdown. Her brother in-law kept on taking advantage of the situation and kept on abusing her.

Her younger sister who is studying lodged a complaint to the police for Battery. Her sister stated that her elder sister was manhandled by their brother in-law but later on during the investigation, it was revealed that she had been raped. Still she insisted police to withdraw the complaint lodged: a) Fear of being ostracised by the society, b) Fear that she might become the cause of divorce between her elder sister and her husband, C) Fear of being scandalized later and d) Lack of confidence in the Police that Police might not be able to help her.

Now, where did she go wrong? Why should she let a criminal go scot-free? Who is responsible when an innocent girl is being victimized? Will she be able to regain her self-confidence? Where are we going wrong?

YOUTH GANGS in THIMPHU

Three weeks ago, there was gang violence outside Space 34. one of the gang members was bashed up by other gang's members. later after two weeks, these two gangs made show-down at Kuenselphodrang and two of the gang members were pretty badly injured after the gang fight. one of the injured members had to undergo minor surgery.

Now, the question is how safe is our society? who is responsible? who has to address this emerging issue? What needs to be done?

Monday, June 21, 2010

Crime, like charity, begins at home

A novel approach to raise public awareness of law and order.

RBP Road Show 21 June, 2010 - About 1,000 Jiji residents, who complain of numerous crimes in the community, were treated with a skit on domestic violence yesterday, which police say is the most unintentional crime leading to divorce in Bhutan.

The skit, organized as a road show, aimed to tell how families fall apart under the influence of alcohol

Police described domestic violence as the new pattern of criminality affecting the psychology of children, leading to youthful criminal. An official said the rates of domestic violence are rapidly increasing. “The cases are more reported from urban areas, especially in Thimphu, which could probably be due to the increase in bars and drayangs.”

According to police report, 767 domestic violence cases were reported alone in Thimphu in 2009, out of which 85 cases has already been charge sheeted. The rest either withdrew or compromised.

The skit also sent messages on the safety measures on the prevention of house burglary, pickpocketing, auto stripping and larceny, which happens at a high rate in Jiji.

The chief of police, Brig. Kipchu Namgyel said that there is a need for partnership between communities and police, as a part of understanding to combat violence and crime. “Our intention is to solve the problem existing in the societies and help build a sense of security at the sight of police.”

During the road shows, RBP also provided opportunities to communities to voluntarily participate and act as a bridge between police and communities by registering with the RBP. People, who see violence in the neighbourhood, can report to volunteers and they’ll report to police. “This volunteerism will help report a complaint, without actually making people come to the police station,” an official said.

RBP has now have covered about 4,505 houses, creating door to door awareness on crime prevention tips in Thimphu, since it started the programme a month ago.