The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday heard the case of a 32-year-old man charged with raping a 17-year-old university student after first drugging her at a beer garden.
“You are charged with rape because you raped the victim three times in one night,” after drugging her, presumably using sleeping pills, Presiding Judge Suos Sam Ath said.
The accused, Yuon Ratha, allegedly spiked the drinks of the victim at the beer garden where she had worked to finance her studies and then took her to a guesthouse where he locked her up and raped her.
In the complaint the 17-year-old filed with police after the alleged rape in September 2013, she states that Mr. Ratha must have drugged her as she felt very sleepy after just a few drinks and had no recollection of the rape or how she got to the guesthouse.
Mr. Ratha confessed to having sex with the victim three times on the night in question, but said that he had neither drugged nor raped the girl.
“I took her to a guesthouse to have sex with her, but she agreed with me,” he said.
The verdict will be announced on March 20.
