The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) on March 12, charged a 24-year old man with second-degree felony for murdering a 33-year old speech impaired man at the Samdrupjongkhar dzongkhag court.

According to the charges, the accused was charged for voluntary manslaughter.

The incident happened on January 15 this year at Chidungkhar in Gomdar gewog, when the accused, Sonam Dorji, struck the deceased on the head with firewood after a brawl at a local festival.

According to the charges, the deceased, through gestures had blamed the accused of accusing him of stealing two hens. The deceased had given the accused the hens.

The deceased took out his knife and struck it thrice on a log before leaving the house they were in. The accused brushed against the deceased when he was also walking out of the house. The deceased then took out his knife and attempted to hit him twice. When the accused went back inside the house, his friends saw him bleeding from his head.

He then went looking for the deceased and kicked and punched his face. A man called Tandin, who was at the scene tried to stop the fight and punched the accused twice on his face and fled the scene. The accused went back to the deceased, who was sleeping in the kitchen with its door latched.

He broke the door and struck him with firewood, which broke on impact. He picked another and struck it on the head, fracturing the skull. He died the following day.

According to the medical report, the deceased skull was fractured, which led to bleeding from the mouth and nose.

The father of the deceased informed the local village head about the incident on January 16.

Office of the attorney general (OAG) cited section 140  (b) and 141 of the penal code of Bhutan to charge him. The OAG also submitted to court to make the accused pay compensation.

Tashi Tenzin