Two young women were rescued from Phnom Penh brothels and one man was arrested on charges related to human trafficking after a tip from relatives led a rights group and police to them, officials said Thursday.
Sam Eang, 30, was arrested by police in the Ministry of Interior’s anti-trafficking department.
The women, Svay Luon, 20, and Hin Samay, 19, and Sam Eang are from Russei village, Stung Meanchey commune, Meanchey district. Svay Luon was freed from a Russei village brothel and Him Samay was rescued from a brothel in a neighboring commune, said Prum Vutha, chief of the anti-trafficking department.
“Sam Eang confessed he took two girls to one woman,” Prum Vutha said.
The woman and Sam Eang both received money for the girls, Prum Vutha said. Police are looking for the woman, he added.
Sam Eang was in custody and the girls were in the care of anti-trafficking police Thursday evening, Prum Vutha said.
A relative of one of the women spotted her in the brothel and notified the human rights group Licadho on Sept 2, officials said. Licadho notified the anti-trafficking department.
“I was cheated into being a prostitute,” Svay Luon said Thursday.
She said a man said he would help her find work in a restaurant or selling rice and soup in the city, she said.
Svay Luon said she and Hin Samay were recruited together then separated and sold to separate buyers and moved into brothels. She said she was relieved to be rescued.
“I am happy that I was rescued by police,” she said. “I am [still] worried, and now I learned about being cheated.”
