A 27-year-old man in Mondolkiri province raped and murdered his 12-year-old neighbor in a rice field near his house on Monday morning, then promptly took his own life, a police official said.
Trek Kvak, an unemployed man with a history of erratic behavior, convinced his neighbor to follow him into the field near their homes in Koh Nhek district’s Sre Huy commune after the girl’s parents, both fishermen, left for work, ac-cording to deputy provincial police chief So Sovann.
“The rape and murder happened this morning at about 7 a.m in an area about 1 km from her house, near a pond in the rice field,” he said. “He raped her, and her face showed evidence of being struck. Then he used a knife to kill her by cutting her throat.”
Mr. Sovann said Trek Kvak then used a thin rope to hang himself inside a small shack in the field. He attributed the suicide to the man’s fear of prosecution.
“Villagers said he sometimes acted like he had a mental illness when he wandered around the village, but I think he killed himself because he didn’t want to be arrested,” he said.
Mr. Sovann said the girl’s parents were partially to blame for her death because they had been negligent by leaving her home alone.
“The parents were very careless. They should have brought her along with them every time they left because 12 years old is young, and she didn’t know what was dangerous,” he said.
The rape-murder followed by suicide was the first such incident in the province, according to Mr. Sovann, but a series of similar crimes have been committed this year.
In Kampot province, police are continuing to search for suspects in the rape-murder of a 14-year-old girl, who was attacked after leaving school early on Friday. Her body was found about 500 meters from her house in Toek Chhou district.
According to deputy district police chief Nop Chanpheap, investigators from the provincial force questioned eight suspects on Monday but made no arrests.
“They haven’t arrested anyone yet because there is no evidence,” he said.
