But the Sheep witnessed the most heinous crimes in the year
Yearender/Crime: Olakha residents woke up to the news of the murder of a 29-year-old man at Central Plaza in Lungtenphu, Thimphu, making it the first case of cold-blooded murder in the Sheep year.
The man was found dead in a pool of blood on January 13 around 7.30am at the entrance of the five-storied Central Plaza building.
On April 21, passersby spotted a taxi driver who was murdered near a stream on the way to Royal Thimphu College with multiple stab wounds on the body.
It did not end there. Yet another act of gruesome murder was reported at Kingarabten, Trongsa on August 6 where a 16-year-old class seven student of Samcholing MSS and his 60-year-old grandmother were found murdered. Police are still investigating the case.
The grandmother was found dead with a slit throat in the bar attached to her shop whiles her grandson was murdered in the bedroom with multiple gashes on the head and back.
The country recorded at least one homicide (murder) in a month last year from seven such cases in 2014.
However, overall crime rate in the country dropped by 13 percent as compared to the previous year.
A total of 2,055 penal code offenses were reported last year from 2,367 in 2014. Except for Paro, Trashiyangtse and Gasa, the rest of the dzongkhags including Thimphu recorded a drop in crime rates.
Dzongkhag wise, the highest crime, as is the trend, was reported in Thimphu followed by Chukha and Paro with 746, 291 and 178 cases respectively.
The seven highest crimes reported last year were battery, larceny, burglary, possession and illicit transaction of controlled substances, offense against Ku-Sung-Thukten, malicious mischief and auto stripping. Rape cases dropped to 33 last year from 43.
Although listed among the seven top crimes last year, offense against Ku-Sung-Thukten dropped by about 50 percent with 129 cases.
Similarly, motor vehicle accidents also dropped by 10 percent or by 76 cases. The drop is mainly attributed to the Zero Tolerance Day that the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) initiated across the country in April.
Kinga Dema