A 21-year-old man was Wednesday found guilty of raping his girlfriend and sentenced to five years in prison by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. Phon Dara was convicted of rape after taking his drunken girlfriend, 19, into the forest to have sex with her after drinking palm wine with her and a friend, Yin Chan Socheat.
Police have yet to apprehend Mr. Socheat, who had his charge of rape reduced to intentional violence Wednesday and was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison.
“Phon Dara is convicted of rape and will be in jail for five years. He has to pay 6,000,000 riel [$1,500] in compensation to the victim,” said Judge Kor Vandy.
“Socheat is convicted of intentional violence and will be in jail for a year,” the judge said. “He is ordered to be fined 2,000,000 riel [$500] and he has to pay 1,000,000 riel [$250] to the victim.”
Mr. Dara had previously claimed the sex was consensual and testified that Mr. Socheat had hit the victim when she refused to also have sex with him.
