Wamrong Battery Case: High Court Upholds Dist. Court Verdict

Staff Reporter

In the most recent development to the Wamrong battery case whereby a wife of a Drangpon has been alleged of battery and trespassing case, the High Court’s Bench II on Thursday affirmed the Trashigang District Court’s judgment.

The court stated that Tshering Yangki must pay the compensation and medical expenses to the victim within a month from the day the judgment was given.

The district court in Wamrong had convicted Tshering Yangki of battery and trespassing during the incident that happened on April 26 last year.

Tshering Yangki had appealed to the High Court earlier this year after the District and Dungkhang Courts in Trashigang found her guilty of battery and trespassing. She was sentenced to a concurrent prison term of 18 months and was also ordered to pay more than Nu 260,000 as compensation to the victim.

The defendant had also contended the lower court’s decision and claimed she was imposed huge compensation and the courts’ dismissal of the assault charges against the victim and her son.

Defendant Tshering Yangki submitted to the HC that her family was defamed after the short video clip of her assaulting the victim went viral on Facebook. She questioned if freelance journalist Namgay Zam could raise funds for the victim.

The court, however, ruled that the issues are not related to the battery and trespassing case and the video clip in fact serves as an evidence. “Medical reports from Riserboo hospital, Mongar regional referral hospital and national referral hospital in Thimphu confirm the victim’s claims,” the judgment stated.

It ruled that the relevant ministry and agency should deal with the defendant’s contention over the fund raising.

Meanwhile, according to reliable sources, Tshering Yangki will now appeal to the Supreme Court against the verdict passed against her.

The case surfaced last year after a video of the incident went viral. Eversince there has been a huge hue and cry among the public to bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure that law and order prevail in the country.

Many are of the view that the assault case in Wamrong, where the wife a Drangpon there allegedly assaulted the wife of a cleaner, is a blatant act of the powerful trying to stifle the weak and the poor. Some even allege that due process was not been followed at the Drungkhag police and the hospital following which the case was forwarded to the district court in Trashigang.

The alleged battery incident took place on 26 April and the case was reported to the police on 27 April last year.