A 16-year-old boy who knocked a 6-year-old girl unconscious with a stone before dragging her into the bushes and sexually assaulting her in Kompong Speu province claimed he attacked the child out of revenge, police said.
The teen assaulted the girl in Baset district on Friday after an afternoon of heavy drinking with friends, said Keo Saroeun, deputy chief of the provincial police’s serious crimes bureau.
“The suspect slapped and then knocked the victim out with a stone,” Mr. Saroeun said on Monday.
When the girl regained consciousness, she told neighbors, and the boy was arrested at his nearby home, he said.
During questioning, he admitted to beating and molesting the girl and claimed it was in retaliation against her mother, who slashed his leg with a knife last year because she suspected he had abused her daughter, Mr. Saroeun said.
“He was angry with the victim’s mother for hacking him last April,” he said.
The teen is set to appear in provincial court today, he said, while the girl was recovering at a hospital in Phnom Penh.
