DV cases worsens in Umling, Sarpang

… 30-year-old sister stabs her 33-year-old brother to protect herself

Earlier on June 26, a 30-year-old sister stabbed her 33-year-old brother around midnight in Umling, Sarpang. Sources claim it was unintentional, and the 30-year-old sister took arms for self-defense.

Local leaders said, there are about five to six households in Umling experiencing DV cases on daily basis.

Domestic Violence cases have been frequently surfacing in Umling said the local leaders. Most cases that have been forwarded to the nearby police station; police have allowed to resolve the cases mutually.

This, the local leaders said has been confusing them as DV cases are surfacing frequently.

The incident happened when the brother went to his neighbour’s place to witness a shaman perform a ritual. 

He picked up an argument with the family as he was mad about finding his house’s door open at that hour of the night.

In the midst of a heated argument, he started hitting his sister.

After a few slaps, and punches, the sister couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed a kitchen knife for self-protection.

With the weapon on hand and the brother still continuing to hit her, he got injured with the knife.

He got two deep cuts; one on his left thigh and another on his stomach. And several other scraps on his arm and stomach.

The local leaders claimed that they immediately took the brother to the gewogs basic health unit (BHU) and got dressing and some stitches for the minor wounds. And informed the police. However, the sister escaped the scene and ran away from their home that night.

Local leaders took help from the police and the De-Suups to look out for her. “We searched for her all night,” said the local leaders.

Meanwhile, the brother was taken to Gelephu Hospital to stitch the deep cuts.

When the sister was found, they took her to the hospital for a check-up too. There, they found out that the brother initiated the fight.

“The sister claimed that she was tired of his tyranny and used the knife for self-defence,” said the local leaders.

The brother is still in Gelephu hospital.

The sister was taken to the police station after the hospital discharged her. However, she’s not behind the bar as of now and was released on surety.

“It depends on her brother, whether he wants to fight the case further,” said the local leader.

He’s in stable condition as of now, getting his wounds and checked by the nurses regularly.

When the local leaders consulted the police after doing as much as they could as a community leaders on possible actions in the case. “We asked what actions are the police going to take on this case, they said that they aren’t sure when he’ll be discharged from the hospital. Police will record his statement first after he gets discharged.”

Sources said that it didn’t seem like the sister stabbed her brother intentionally. “Looks like it happened accidently as he started assaulting her, and things got sour.”

The siblings were both reportedly, moderately drunk at the time.

The local leaders claimed that Umling gewog is still backward incase of domestic violence within the family members.

“We have DV cases everyday.”

They said that they were not sure to whom they inform or report such cases.

Domestic violence is not given any importance unless it become grave incident, a local leader told the paper.

Local leaders claimed that they are sick of consecutive sleepless night handling the cases.

“It was almost 5 am when we returned home after dropping the brother to the hospital. It’s almost everyday scene here.”

Local leaders are also confused on how Umling’s case never surfaced in media.

“We hear and read a lot about such cases being reported in papers, radios and TV from other parts of the country but we wonder why Umling gewog’s cases never got attention,” said a local leader.

They claimed that they called and informed reporters based in Gelephu but to their utter dismay, they were reluctant to cover the story.

A local leader said, “A reporter said that he didn’t get information and he can’t report the information from the gewog leaders.”

A local leader asked, “Why can’t the media cover such story despite providing them evidences and accurate information?”

Local leaders also claimed that when they report the cases to the police, they dismiss the cases after some time. “In Umling, people and police are fond of each other, so the police usually suggest the people to settle the cases mutually,”

However, it gets more dangerous when the cases from the same people surface again in the community. “Usually, those people gets angrier, let their grudges against each other grow bigger, thus cases repeats.”

Moreover, when cases occur at odd hours and the community leaders inform the police, the cases were not given the required attention. “Police doesn’t come saying it’s late night. At the end, we the local leaders suffer a lot trying to handle the cases.”

Local leaders of Umling suggest that higher authorities to handle the the repeated cases whether they could solve in community level or not. “We would be grateful if authorities could take bold actions, and do their part of keeping the community safe.”

Gelephu’s Officer in Charge, Ugyen Lhendup said that this case reported is the first case, and the case has been registered. He also said that the police have taken pictures of the wounds as evidence.

On this incident, the OC said that the 30-year-old sister had to be left on surety as the woman had two young children at home. He said the sister was badly beaten, and to protect herself, the sister resorted to use kitchen knife after the situation peaked.

According to the OC, the 33-year-old brother is getting treatment at the hospital and once he gets discharged, police will summon the witnesses and talk on the matter. The witnesses are 33-year-old’s wife and mother.

The OC said that people are fabricating the story.

Meanwhile, Umling police station said it forwarded the case to the hospital and the court.

On asking about repeated harassment case reported to the community police, the official said that there is no record of registered DV case so far. The station said that people usually prefer their local leaders to resolve the case, and don’t really come forward to the police.

A local leader said that the DV cases has dropped compared to earlier days in Umling. “But cases are gaining momentum and getting serious each time they are let go.”

The families of the siblings of the recent stabbing case were experiencing DV as early as the local leaders could remember. “I served as local leader since 2019 and I have seen the siblings’ family get into violence since then,” the local leader said.

There’s a widowed mother, the elder brother, his wife and their child. While the sister is a divorcee with two children.

The local leader said that the elder brother often harasses his family and even his mother.

Their neighbors have approached the local leaders for intervention many times. “Whenever we tried to solve their issue, the elder brother would never cooperate with us. Whenever we assume that they are getting along, they are caught up in the same situation.”

“The elder brother behaves like a cat in public eye while he’s the tiger of the house. He’s not as innocent as he acts in front of the people,” local leader said.

Local leaders said that they are in difficult situation when people refuse from cooperating with them.

The siblings’ family were sent to police twice or thrice for repeated harassment case but they always got away. “We are surprised how police always let them get away every time we turn them in.”

Domestic violence cases are under reported in Umling. The local leaders claimed that the repeated victims from the families hesitate to get them involved unless they seek safety.

There are about five to six households in Umling who experiences DV on daily basis.