Battambang Provincial Court on Friday sentenced a husband for raping an under-aged girl, and his wife for helping to restrain her, to lengthy prison terms, according to the court prosecutor and the victim’s lawyer.
Lee Pov, 42, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for repeatedly raping a 12-year-old girl in Battambang province from late 2003 to early 2004, lawyer Hong Chansokha said.
His wife, Yim Vanna, 31, was convicted in absentia to 15 years in prison for assisting her husband in the attacks in Pich Chenda commune, Phnom Proek district, the lawyer said Sunday.
The couple was arrested on July 18, but Yim Vanna was released shortly afterward, said Prosecutor Hing Bunchea. He did not know the reason behind her release. Police have not been able to find her.
During sentencing, Judge Nil Non also ordered the couple to pay $1,000 in compensation to the victim’s family, Hing Bunchea said Monday.
“The wife claimed that she was threatened if she did not help her husband rape the girl, but she did not have any evidence or witnesses to the intimidation,” he said.
Lee Pov is also charged with raping the victim’s 16-year-old sister last April. That case is expected to go to trial this month, Hong Chansokha said.
Hong Chansokha said the victim’s widowed mother frequently asked the couple to take care of her daughters when she left home to work at a distant farm.
