Police question IT personnel

October 27: An IT personnel, working with a private company, has been questioned by Thimphu police for allegedly circulating a sexually explicit movie involving a Bhutanese couple, according to sources.

Police, however, refused to comment, saying that the case is under investigation.

The video, according to sources, was leaked when the computer belonging to the couple broke down and was taken for repair. This is the first reported case of leaked video.

“The video was for personal viewing and not for any commercial purposes. We’re legally married and she’s my wife,” the husband told Kuensel, refusing to comment further, saying that the case is with the police and that he would talk only when the court verdict is out.

He said that he lodged a complaint with the Thimphu police on October 24, after he found that the video was being circulated. Sources told Kuensel that more people could be questioned in connection with the distribution of the video.

With the investigation still on, it’s not known whether the video was made for commercial purpose or for personal viewing.

The Bhutan Filming Regulations 2007 has a section that prohibits pornography, either expressed or depicted in words, or in any form, and that any filmmaker caught making such videos is liable to be guilty and punishable.

Meanwhile, section 381 of the penal code states that, if the defendant performs a sexual act in a public place under circumstances where the defendant knows it may be observed by the public and causes the public affront or alarm, sells, manufactures, issues, distributes, displays or deals in obscene material, the defendant shall be guilty of offence of lewd and lascivious conduct.

Section 476 states that a defendant shall be guilty of computer pornography, if he publishes, distributes an obscene photograph or picture on the computer or over the internet, or is an internet service provider, who knowingly acts as a host for pornographic material or acts as a channel for the image to be transmitted to an individual user.

source: kuensel