The body of a missing 17-year-old girl was found naked in a forest in Siem Reap province on Sunday morning in what police suspect is a case of rape and murder.
Siv Sotheavy had traveled from her hometown in Kompong Cham province to visit her father in Sotr Nikum district’s Damdek commune for the Pchum Ben holiday earlier this month and went missing on Thursday morning, said deputy district penal police chief Heng Samnang.
At about 9 a.m. on Sunday, “villagers who had gone to the community forest to pick fruit saw the body and informed police,” Mr. Samnang said.
According to provincial serious crimes police chief Suong Sokha, Siv Sotheavy was found about 10 km from her father’s home with a shirt tightly wrapped around her neck, indicating that she had been strangled to death.
While there were no marks on her body, police believe that she was raped because she was otherwise naked, he said, adding that police were still seeking suspects.
