A beer promotion girl was shot and injured by members of RCAF’s B-70 unit early Wednesday morning for being slow in bringing ice for their drinks as they sang karaoke, police and witnesses said.
Major Phat Sokphal, 37, and Captain Sim Ry, 25, both of Brigade 70, the unit from which Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguards are chosen, were arrested by military police in Tuol Kok district shortly after the incident, Municipal Police Commissioner Touch Naruth said Wednesday.
But the two were released hours later by B-70’s commanding officer, General Mao Sophan, Touch Naruth said.
Beer promoters who witnessed the attack said that four military officers drank ABC-brand beer throughout Tuesday evening at Ruk Kha II beer garden on Street 122, and at about 1 am entered a private karaoke room.
The workers, who declined to give their names fearing for their own safety, said by telephone that the soldiers became furious that waitresses were slow in fetching ice for them, and they began shooting.
Beer promoter Kruy May, 23, was wounded in the foot and taken to Calmette Hospital.
An assistant to Mao Sophan said the two officers responsible for the shooting were demoted in rank and had their heads shaved as a punishment.
The assistant, who declined to give his name, said that he was sorry to hear Kruy May had been injured and that the brigade would pay her $500 in compensation.
Municipal Military Police Chief Ya Kim Y would not comment on the matter.
Kruy May is the fourth woman shot by soldiers at entertainment spots in the city since the month of February.
On April 13, a singer was shot in the hand in a karaoke room at X2 on Street 214, when a RCAF officer accidentally fired his handgun, which he was allegedly spinning, gunslinger style around his finger by the weapon’s trigger guard. The officer was not arrested.
In February, a beer promoter was shot in the thigh and wrist at a karaoke bar in Tuol Kok district by an RCAF Colonel who was arrested, but later released. The officer claimed he had dropped his handgun.
Later that month, another soldier fired his gun into the ground at a beer garden in Chamkar Mon district, hitting another beer promotion girl in the leg.
