A military police officer and a former Royal Cambodian Armed Forces soldier were charged with intentional violence on Monday following a violent rampage through a Battambang City slum on Saturday, after underwear belonging to one of their wives went missing, officials said.
Lay Phanny, Svay Por commune police chief, welcomed the investigating judge’s decision to charge the pair—whose names he claimed not to know—after they allegedly launched a drunken attack on 11 scavengers, including a pregnant woman, near the city’s railway tracks over the ostensibly stolen bra and underwear.
“It is a good example for the other military police and police who have used violence that these are facing justice and responsibility for their actions,” said Mr. Phanny.
Military police spokesman Kheng Tito said people in positions of authority should take heed of the charges.
“The ones who committed the crime have to face punishment…no one should be free after doing this, even if they are powerful,” he said, declining to name the two men.
Provincial Investigating Judge Kim Ravy confirmed that the pair had been charged under Article 217 but declined to disclose their identities.
