Tashi Dendup and his friends brutally beat up a person near the fuel depot in Chubachu, took his mobile phone and fled from the scene on September 29 last year.

His friends, four of them, stood there witnessing the crime but did not report the incident to the police.

In court, Tashi Dendup submitted that he had asked the individual to lend him his phone to make a call. When the other person remained quiet, he turned his back to leave the place but he heard his friends beating the man and saw them took the phone.

The court established that he was lying when it examined the evidence submitted by the Office of the Attorney General obtained from closed circuit television record.

The videos showed Tashi Dendup walking up to this man walking on the other side of road. After sometime three of his friends from the group followed him. The four of them beat the man and ran away with his Nu 9,800 worth Samsung J7 NXT mobile phone.

The medical report also showed that the victim suffered injuries.

The court sentenced Tashi Dendhup to three years in prison for robbery.

The court ordered the four men to compensate the victim for his cell phone. It ordered Tashi Dendup to compensate Nu 2,450 – the cost of the phone divided among the four of the perpetrators.

Two witnesses of the incident were ordered to pay penalty equal to the wage rate of 45 days to the state.

The court stated that while the three had the responsibility to inform the police about the incident they had fled the scene and did not report.

The penal code states that an individual shall be guilty of the offence of failure to report a crime, if the person, who witnesses any person committing a crime, does not report it to the lawful authority. The offence is classified as a violation.

Another accomplice, Samdrup Dorji was initially charged for taking care of stolen property but the charge was later dropped in the course of the case.

He was, however, convicted of not reporting the crime and was asked to pay fine equal to the wage rate of 45 days.

Samdrup Dorji has been in detention for 45 and need not pay any fine.

Tshering Palden

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