The Pursat Provincial Court on Saturday charged a 27-year-old farmer for raping his 7-year-old neighbor in Krakor district while he was drunk, police said Sunday.
Police arrested Koy Chan Sokun just hours after he raped the girl in the forest near her house in Kbal Trach commune on Friday afternoon, said deputy district police chief Mol Soth, who led the investigation.
Mr. Soth said that at about 3:30 p.m., Mr. Chan Sokun persuaded the girl and her 5-year-old sister to come out of their house by promising them money.
“While the girl’s mother was busy in the house, the suspect convinced the girl and her sister to go into the forest about 50 meters away from the house, then he gave the 5-year-old 500 riel to go back home,” he said.
The suspect threatened to kill the older sister if she shouted for help as he raped her, Mr. Soth said. After Mr. Chan Sokun ran away, the girl ran home to tell her parents, who immediately called commune police, he said.
Mr. Soth said that upon receiving the complaint, police cooperated with security guards in the village to find the suspect.
“We arrested him at about 5 p.m. when he was fleeing on foot after raping the girl in the village. About 20 police and village security guards surrounded him on the dirt road,” he said.
Seung Sopheak, chief of the provincial police’s serious crimes bureau, said Mr. Chan Sokun was charged Saturday.
“The investigating judge, Mao Sina, charged the suspect with raping a minor and we sent him to pretrial detention at the provincial prison yesterday evening,” he said, adding that the suspect had confessed to committing the crime.
“He told police that the reason for the rape was because he drank too much and couldn’t control his feelings after divorcing his wife about a year ago and watching lots lots of sex videos on Facebook.”
