Man Charged With Murder of Teenager in B’bang

The Battambang Provincial Court charged a man with murder on Friday for allegedly leaving an 18-year-old woman to drown in a river after attempting to rape her on Tuesday, a police official said.

The body of Chann Serey Roth was found in the river in Sangke district on Thursday, two days after she disappeared while cleaning bean sprouts behind her family’s house.

Ac­­cording to police, her attacker, 23-year-old Chan Kosal, was identified based on flip-flops and shorts found at the scene and arrested on Thursday.

He was sent to court on Friday after confessing to beating the teenager un­conscious and dragging her out into the river when she resisted his rape attempt.

“After the court questioned the suspect, the court charged the suspect with murder,” Mr. Vanny said, adding that Mr. Kosal was then sent to the provincial prison to await trial.

Asked why the suspect had not also been charged with attempted rape, Mr. Vanny said that be­cause Mr. Kosal eventually killed Chann Serey Roth, the earlier assault was moot.

“Actually, the suspect only attempted to rape the victim, but he did not rape her successfully. Instead he killed her, so the provincial prosecutors decided to charge the suspect with murder only,” he said.

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