A man was arrested on Friday for allegedly raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl in Kompong Chhnang province late on Wednesday night, according to district police.
So Sim, 40, a plantation guard who supplemented his income with fishing, is accused of raping and killing the girl at about 11 p.m. on Wednesday then dumping her body in a forested area in Cholkiri district, about 150 meters from her home, according to district police chief Him Yong.
“With good cooperation from local people, and especially the victim’s family, we deployed our forces to several target areas…to arrest the suspect after her parents verbally complained to us [Thursday] morning straight after they found and took their late daughter home,” Mr. Yong said.
The police chief said that officers arrested Mr. Sim at about 3:40 a.m. yesterday as he was preparing to leave a plantation on the border of Koh Thkov and Cholsa communes, where he had been hiding about 6 km from the victim’s home.
“As a result, we arrested and sent him to the provincial police station already,” Mr. Yong said.
Cholsa commune chief Phong Out said that the suspect had been drinking wine with eight other men on Wednesday night before coming across the victim not far from her home and taking her into the forest where he attacked and killed her.
Kompong Chhnang provincial police chief Prak Vuthy said that Mr. Sim had confessed to raping the girl and would be sent to the provincial court to face charges.
“The suspect confessed already that he did rape the girl, and there is enough evidence and witnesses that enables him to be charged, and now we are preparing documents to send him to the court,” Mr. Vuthy said.
Asked what charges Mr. Sim would face, the provincial police chief said he would be charged with rape, but would not say whether he would also be charged with murder.
