Municipal Court officials on Tuesday questioned a French national for allegedly raping and beating a sex worker last week after she refused to perform oral sex.
Jean Marc Ballestra, 26, was arrested Tuesday after turning himself in to police.
Police say Ballestra allegedly attacked the woman at a guesthouse in the Daun Penh district of the city early Thursday morning, said Ngam Ry, a municipal immigration police officer.
Ngam Ry said the woman, 22, was sexually assaulted, beaten and thrown out of the guesthouse on Boeng Kak lake at 4:30 am after she refused to perform oral sex for Ballestra.
Ballestra, a four-year resident of Phnom Penh, admits he ejected the woman from the guesthouse but denies he raped or beat her, an acquaintance said Tuesday. He said the charges against the Frenchman have been inflated with the assistance of a third party who holds a grudge against the owner of the guesthouse, who is a friend of Ballestra.
Police said the guesthouse owner tried to intervene and help the woman.
The woman told reporters Ballestra had taken her back to the guesthouse after he paid a little more than $5 to a brothel owner on Tuol Kok dam. She said Ballestra became angry and beat her after she refused his request for oral sex.
The woman did not say she was sexually assaulted, as police allege.
Neighbors awakened by the commotion assisted in filing a complaint to police, she added.
Ballestra was held in custody Tuesday night and will be questioned again by court officials today, Municipal Immigration Police Chief Pol Pithey said.
