Family Brings Home Comatose Crash Victim

takeo town, Takeo province – Sun Lai’s body, battered but breathing, lolled around on a Takeo Provin­cial Hospital bed Monday. His eyelids sometimes parted, showing white, but the 22-year-old has been incogni­zant since suffering head wounds last week.

Should Sun Lai not recover, he would be the fourth death from last week’s collision-turned-shooting spree, caused by sons of Phnom Penh’s elite, and the second death in his family.

Sun Lai’s family removed him from Preah Kossamak Hospital about five days ago, after learning they could not afford much in the way of medical care and being told by doctors that Sun Lai, previously identified by The Cambo­dia Daily as Long Lay, had a slim chance of survival, according to Long Ny, his 19-year-old wife.

“The doctor said something is wrong with his head, but X-rays are too expensive. They cost several hundred dollars, the doctor told me,” Long Ny said.

So about a half-dozen relatives sat around Sun Lai, waiting to see what will happen. His wife held up his wrist, attached to a saline drip, while his older sister fanned the flies from his face. A tube ran up his nose, feeding his stomach.

“The doctor said the hospital cannot guarantee his survival. If he is lucky, he will survive,” Long Ny said.

The Municipal Court has issued arrest warrants for five suspects, including Nhim So­phea, who police and government officials have identified as the 22-year-old nephew of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the son of Nhim Chan­tara, an undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Police have also named Nhim Sophea as the shooter.

The incident occurred as four vehicles were speeding down Sihanouk Boulevard from a birthday party Oct 27. The lead car, a Toyota Corona, slammed into a parked coconut truck, injuring Sun Lai and killing his 19-year-old brother-in-law, Long Mao.

Men from the other three cars pried their friend from behind his air bag and removed the Corona’s license plate.

But before departing, one of the men threatened the crowd and retrieved an AK-47 from his vehicle. He opened fire, killing two passers-by.

“We are farmers. We cannot do anything against” the perpetrators, Long Ny said Monday. “We just plead for their support. We do not want them in prison.”

Asked if she was not angry about her husband’s fate, Long Ny conceded, “A little angry, but not too angry, because they are too big. We cannot do anything with them.”

Earlier Monday, at Sun Lai’s family’s farm, other relatives were preparing for the seven-day anniversary ceremony of Long Mao’s death.

Sitting under a tent of blue tarpaulin, Sun Lai’s father-in-law, Long Sim, further explained why they had removed Sun Lai from Preah Kossamak Hospital.

“If he died in the hospital, it would be very expensive to get him here…. If you bring him when he is alive, it is cheaper.”

The family could not afford to bring Long Mao’s body home and were forced to have him cremated at Phnom Penh’s Wat Preah Puth.

Long Sim said he had tried to hire a taxi to bring the body back to their home in Tram Kak district’s Ta Phein commune, but the driver had asked for $500. Long Sim haggled the driver down to $300, but that was still not affordable.

“The taxi driver believes it’s unlucky to transport a dead body,” said Sun Phally, 36, Sun Lai’s aunt.

The relatives of Sun Lai and Long Mao said they had heard on Funcinpec’s Ta Prohm radio that police were searching for the suspects, but added they had not heard anything about the monetary compensation they hope for.

“There has been no compensation at all from the [suspects’] families or the government, only $5 from Licadho,” Long Sim said, re­ferring to the human rights NGO.

Phnom Penh Penal Police Chief Reach Sokhon said that the relatives of four other victims in the incident visited his home Mon­day, demanding compensation and that the culprits be sent to prison.

“I went to Nhim Chantara’s house and demanded he hand over his son, but he said his son had never returned home,” Reach Sokhon said. But he added that Nhim Chantara agreed to pay compensation to victims’ families.

“Compensation does not mean the punishments will be dropped. The families must complain to the court in a civil case [for compensation]. Authorities will not compromise [the culprits’] punishment,” Reach Sokhon said.

Asked if he knew the suspects’ whereabouts, the police chief said, “I think they are hiding at friends’ houses and they, as well as some police, don’t want to tell us.”

Another brother of Sun Lai, Chev Chamroeun, said Monday he is now afraid to return to the capital. He was at the incident that night, but only suffered scrapes down the length of his back.

Chev Chamroeun sold coco­nuts from a pushcart in Phnom Penh along with his brothers. He said they each earned 4,000 to 5,000 riel per day, slept on the sidewalk near Olympic Stadium at night and returned home about once a week with their earnings.

Awaiting Long Mao’s ceremony, Chev Chamroeun recalled seeing the AK-47.

“I couldn’t believe he’d shoot at the people. I thought he’d shoot at the sky. But after people saw the gun, they ran, and he shot them from behind.”

 

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