A baby girl snatched from her house in Tuol Kok three weeks ago has been reunited with her mother after her abductor led police to the family to whom the child was sold.
Neang Vy, who disappeared with eight-month-old Pech Sonita on June 20, was arrested Monday in Kompong Thom province, police said. A friend of the baby’s mother spotted Neang Vy while visiting relatives.
Police in Kompong Thom sent Neang Vy back to Phnom Penh, where she is being held by Don Penh district police, pending a court appearance on charges of child abduction.
On Tuesday morning, Neang Vy led police and Ro Kiya, the baby’s mother, to a house in central Phnom Penh where the baby was found with a local family.
Pen Sophy, 65, said Neang Vy had sold the child to her daughter for $150 after pretending that she was the mother.
“She said she wanted to divorce her husband because he had a new wife,” Pen Sophy said. “She said she didn’t want to keep the baby, she wanted to sell it and leave Phnom Penh.”
Pen Sophy said she had urged her daughter to adopt the child as she was unable to have her own children. “I wanted this baby to be my granddaughter because she looks very nice.”
Ro Kiya, meanwhile, wept as her baby was handed back to her after the three-week separation. “I love my baby very much,” she said. “Now my baby is back, I have back my life. Being poor is no problem, but my baby is the most important thing in my life.”
