Phnom Penh’s deputy chief prosecutor said Sunday he is calling for the temporary suspension of Municipal Anti-Trafficking Police Chief Meng Say, following an accusation of rape against him.
“I issued a letter [and] sent it to co-ministers of the Ministry of Interior on Friday to temporarily suspend Meng Say’s job,” Deputy Prosecutor Sien Sok Aun said.
Last week, the Phnom Penh Municipal court issued a summons to Meng Say for questioning after a 46-year-old woman accused the anti-trafficking police chief of raping her, but he did not appear, Sien Sok Aun said.
“He said he was busy, so on Monday we will do it again,” he said.
Meng Say’s superior, Judicial Municipal Police Chief Reach Sokhon, said he has not yet received the deputy prosecutor’s letter.
But, he said: “I heard about this story three days ago.”
The alleged victim, Sek Roeun, who said she wished to publicly disclose her identity, said by telephone Sunday that Meng Say forced her to drink on the evening of Jan 20, until she was intoxicated.
She alleged that he then drove her around the city until 1 am, when he took her to a guest house and raped her.
“After he raped me, he gave me $20 and asked me to pay the guest house room fee of $2,” she said.
Sek Roeun said she was a widow and her husband died in 1997.
She was employed as a chef for a Chinese company for two years. But, she said, when she accused Meng Say of rape, she was fired the same day.
“Now I am jobless,” she said.
According to the deputy prosecutor, the alleged victim was employed to work undercover to help investigations in the municipal anti-trafficking unit.
Meng Say said by phone Thursday that the accuser had a personal dispute with him because she once offered him $1,500 to release a trafficking suspect, but he refused and sent the suspect to court.
When asked if he is guilty of the rape, Meng Say answered “This story is a long story.”
