A construction worker in Takeo province was arrested on Sunday for allegedly raping his 15-year-old stepdaughter over the course of many months, leaving the girl pregnant, police said on Monday.
Police arrested Am Rith, 35, at his home in Bati district’s Kraing Thnong commune on Sunday morning following a complaint from the victim’s mother, according to deputy police chief Khorn Rany.
“She didn’t realize about [the abuse] until she saw that her daughter’s stomach was becoming bigger and bigger,” he said.
At her mother’s urging, he said, the young girl was persuaded to reveal the identity of the child’s father.
“She told her mother that she was raped by the stepfather many times and now she is seven months pregnant…. She was threatened by her stepfather not to reveal their affair; otherwise he would kill her and her mother.”
Following his arrest, Mr. Rith admitted to having sexually assaulted the girl since October, when he first raped her while looking for snails in Kompong Speu province, Mr. Rany said.
The abuse had also taken place in local rice fields, forests and the home they shared with the victim’s mother and five siblings, he added.
“He said, ‘I can’t remember how many times I had sexual intercourse with her. It is countless,’” Mr. Rany said.
He added that the suspect had shown no remorse and confessed to using any opportunity to assault the girl, who dropped out of school and currently works in a garment factory.
“He decided to rape his stepdaughter because most of the time he wanted to have sex with his wife, [but] she refused him by saying that she was not feeling well.”
Mr. Rany added that the suspect was sent to provincial police headquarters on Monday, where he would be questioned further before being sent to court to face charges.
