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?
