Twelfth Rape and Murder Victim Reported So Far This Year
Police on Thursday discovered the decomposing body of a 15-year-old girl who was raped then disappeared last Sunday in what has now developed into a triple murder and double rape investigation in Kompong Cham province, police said.
The latest victim Pov Norng, 15, reported being raped by two masked men on May 27, but she then disappeared days later. Police discovered her body in Memot district’s Dar commune, said Chan Hor, deputy chief of Kompong Cham’s judicial police.
“Her body was badly swollen, lying face down and her head had been severely beaten by a blunt object,” the deputy chief said. “Police assumed there are more than two suspects involved in the rape and murder cases.”
On Monday, police first discovered the badly beaten body of Thy Phen, 20, at the bottom of a well. He is suspected of having organized the May 27 gang rape of Ms Norng, police said.
On Tuesday, police discovered the body of Ms Norng’s friend, 18-year-old Moung Sreyroth, 30 meters from the well where Mr Phen’s body was found.
She had been raped and had her neck broken before being hanged by a krama 1.5 meters from the ground.
At that time, police said that Ms Norng was also missing.
Police have arrested a suspect Doek Sung, 35, but have yet to charge him as investigators continue to piece together the many elements of the rape and murders.
Moung Sarin, Kompong Cham Provincial Court deputy prosecutor, said on Friday that he has extended the detention of Mr Sung as police continue to investigate.
“It is a very complicated case to investigate and it is a terrible rape and murder,” he said.
Mr Hor, the judicial police chief, said the three young people were likely murdered on the same day.
“Police assume that all victims were murdered on the same day, and they were thrown in separate places in order to hide evidence from police,” he said,
“All were killed because [the suspects] wanted to block the [rape] investigation of Pov Norng who had filed a complaint to police,” he said.
Ms Norng’s killing is the 12th rape and murder of a woman or child reported by The Cambodia Daily so far this year. Five of those rape and murders have taken place in the month of May alone.
Rape and murders this year are now on track to exceed the 27 rape and murders recorded in 2009 by local rights group Adhoc.
Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said on Friday that he did not have statistics on rape and murders in Cambodia.
“It is a serious crime and is terrible,” he said.
