A man is still at large after he allegedly tortured and raped a 6-year-old girl in Stung Treng province’s Siem Pang district, in what police believe may have been a revenge attack, officials said on Friday.
Duong Sivutha, provincial serious crimes police chief, said the suspect had “strangled and beaten” the young victim, and that he had “intent to kill the girl.” He said the suspect, a 30-year-old known only as Rith, had been drinking when he took the girl to a forest about 2 km from her house on Monday at about 1 pm, where he beat her unconscious, raped her, then fled.The victim, whose clothes had been ripped off, managed to get back to her home; her parents took her to the district hospital and she was discharged after three days.
Mr Sivutha said the suspect had been working for the victim’s parents for approximately two months. “We don’t know if the suspect did this out of revenge with [the victim’s) parents,” he said.
“We will know when we arrest and question him.” Hou Sam Ol, provincial monitoring officer for rights group Adhoc, said it was the most serious case he’d handled for three years. “The victim’s neck had bruises with nail scratches. Her eyes were swollen and red,” he said.
