A Bhutanese national working as a beautician was allegedly gang-raped by three men last Sunday night in an apartment in Electronics City at Southeast Bengaluru, Bangalore.
According to Times of India, she went for a birthday party to a friend’s place where she met one of the accused. After the party, as she was looking for a place to buy cigarettes, the man offered to take her to the place that was open till late night. As she knew him, she didn’t suspect any foul play while accepting the alleged rapist’s invitation to his apartment, where she saw two other men inside. According to Indian news media, the victim claimed to be forced to drink alcohol by the perpetrators. When they attempted to rape her, the victim managed to overpower them and ran out of the apartment on to the dark streets seeking help, chased by her assailants.
She eventually ran into a man and screamed for help, but as she spoke a language he could not understand, and assuming the three chasing her were friends of hers, he simply handed her back to them.
But, as she was being pulled back into the apartment, she overpowered them for a second time and fled the apartment. This time she ran into a couple, who immediately called the police control room and informed the cops. The police arrested Mukhtiar, Khadim and Babu, all employed as helpers in the same hotel where the girl was working. All three of them are in their early twenties.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay extends his thoughts and prayers to the victim of the gang rape. “Horrified to hear about alleged gang rape of Bhutanese woman in Bangalore. Our Delhi embassy is working closely with Indian govt. officials” Prime Minister Tobgay tweeted this morning. Within a minute, Tobgay again tweeted, “We are in touch with the victim who is being provided full support by our embassy. My thoughts and prayers are with the brave victim”.
According to the local area Police base in Electronic City, the three accused have been booked on charges of gang rape under section 376D of the Indian Penal Code and have been remanded to judicial custody.
In Wangdue, Bhutan
Another 42 years old women is raped by three men on May 16 in Wangdue, Bhutan. The victim is reported as a mother of 5. Bhutan Broadcasting Service(BBS) has reported that the three perpetrators are arrested.
‘There are hundreds of unreported cases of rape in the country taken place inclosed doors, from high ranking officials, from within the relatives and the perpetrators are known to the victims. And, Bhutan is sure to see the generation of fatherless children”, says one of the former reporters from Thimphu.
“Because of the fear of social stigma and rejection from their family members many rape victims do not speak up in Bhutan. The age-old tradition ‘Night Hunting’ is termed for most of the rape cases. The number of fatherless children is high in Bhutan and those children are not listed in the national census. Future of those children is uncertain”, summarizes the former reporter.
