Kratie Health Center Official Arrested Over Violent Rampage

The director of a commune-run health center in Kratie province has been arrested for allegedly running his girlfriend off the road in an ambulance, then beating and robbing her, police said on Wednesday.

Sim Chanveasna, 47, director of the O’Krieng commune health center in Sambor district, was arrested at the facility on Tuesday after his 22-year-old mistress of seven years filed a complaint alleging a violent chain of events that occurred last week, district police chief Bun Chhoeun said.

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Sambor district police officers arrest health official Sim Chanveasna outside a commune health center in Kratie Province on Tuesday.

“He was jealous that his mistress was with another man. When he saw her on a motorbike with the other man, he then chased them,” he said.

The woman told police that she had been riding through the commune on the back of another man’s motorbike at about 10 p.m. on January 24 when Mr. Chanveasna began to pursue the pair while driving the center’s empty ambulance, Mr. Chhoeun said.

He then rammed the ambulance into the side of the motorbike, causing the other man to crash and leaving the pair with minor injuries to their arms and legs, he said.

Mr. Chhoeun said the suspect beat the victims at the scene of the crash, then proceeded to drag his mistress into the ambulance and steal her jewelry while driving her home, instructing her not to file a complaint.

Commune chief Keo Bopha said the suspect had frequently taken the ambulance for personal use and also routinely left work to spend afternoons at his farm.

“Everyone here knows he is rude toward the villagers and patients,” Mr. Bopha said.

Kratie Provincial Court spokesman Tev Vuthen said the suspect had been detained at the provincial police headquarters and would be questioned again today by court officials.

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