A 4-year-old girl was hospitalized with serious internal injuries on Friday after being brutally raped by a 28-year-old relative, police in Battambang province said Sunday.
The suspect in the attack, Ngan Chanthan, was arrested on Friday evening and charged Sunday by the provincial court with the rape of a minor, provincial serious crimes police chief Seng Luch said.
The child lost large quantities of blood in the attack and was hospitalized overnight, but was released into the custody of her family on Saturday evening, the police chief said.
Mey Kimsan, a police officer in Bavel district, where the rape took place, said the child’s parents were migrant workers in Thailand and she had been living with her aunt in Kdol Tahen commune. On Friday morning, the girl’s aunt sent her to take some vegetables to her grandmother.
The grandmother allowed the suspect, a relative who had been drinking nearby with friends, to escort the child home, but instead he took her into a forested area and raped her.
After the attack, Ngan Chanthan dropped the bleeding and traumatized child at her aunt’s house, but it was immediately obvious that she was injured, and the aunt filed a complaint with police.
“The victim’s aunt told police that when the suspect brought her niece back, her niece had a lot of blood on her,” Mr. Kimsan said. “The girl had lost a lot of blood and was anemic, so she was brought to the provincial hospital and then to the Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia [RHAC] clinic on Saturday [for specialized treatment].”
Under questioning by district police, Ngan Chanthan admitted to having raped the 4-year-old and said he did it because he was drunk.
“He claimed that he raped the girl victim because he felt drunk and then could not control his feelings,” Mr. Kimsan said.
A representative of the RHAC clinic in Battambang said the girl’s condition had improved with treatment and that she had been released on Saturday evening, but declined to comment further.
