Two young men and an elderly man were sent to Banteay Meanchey and Battambang provincial courts after being accused of raping underaged girls in three separate cases, police said Tuesday.
Mao Sim, 64, was arrested after a 13-year-old girl was beaten unconscious and raped in Banteay Meanchey’s Serei Saophoan district on Tuesday, said Chuon Vath, chief of the province’s anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection police unit.
The suspect attempted to kill the girl by striking her on the neck with the dull side of an ax and beating her with a wooden stick, he added.
The girl was left outside the fence of his house following the 10 am assault. The suspect later confessed he tried to kill the girl to destroy evidence, Chuon Vath said.
In a separate case, Thorn Surth, 21, was sent to Battambang provincial court Tuesday, accused of raping a 7-year-old girl on Dec 30 in Prek Chik commune, Mong Russei district, said Oeurn Ien, district police chief.
Thorn Surth confessed that he raped the girl because he feared contracting HIV/AIDS from sex workers, he added.
In another Battambang case, Veth Vorn, 18, was sent to court Dec 30 after he allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl he met in the jungle, said Seng Son, Battambang office chief of the provincial police’s anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection unit.
All three suspects remain in prison awaiting trial.
