A 27-year-old man was arrested Friday for raping a 12-year-old girl twice earlier this month in Kompong Chhnang province, just north of Phnom Penh. The victim’s mother told police she wanted compensation for the act—2.5 million riel, or $625—officials said.
Prum Chenda is accused of raping the minor two times—once in mid-March in a forest near the girl’s home and again on March 20 behind her house in Kompong Tralach district, said Hul Veasna, district police chief.
Mr. Veasna said Mr. Chenda allegedly raped the girl until she bled and then paid her to not tell anyone about the incidents.
“The suspect raped the girl and then he gave her 500 riel [about $0.12] so she did not tell someone. The victim is too young and did not tell her parents,” he said, adding that police were only notified about the incident when the girl’s mother told police she wanted compensation for the acts.
Mr. Veasna said it is “too difficult” to stop such acts of violence because “the girl is under 15-years-old and lives so far from the province and was not educated.”
Mr. Chenda was sent to the provincial prison and would be sent to the court to be charged Saturday or Monday, Mr. Veasna said.
