The Prey Veng Provincial Court on Sunday charged a 25-year-old man with the rape and murder of a 31-year-old woman in Mesang district on Thursday, a court official said.
“We have charged the man with rape and murder,” deputy provincial court prosecutor Chheun Sophon said.
“The suspect has been sent to the provincial prison,” he added.
Provincial police chief Van Saroeun said the suspect, Nhoy Kea, 25, was arrested Friday when police discovered his motorbike parked near the victim’s body in Svay Chrum commune.
Mr. Saroeun said the suspect admitted to beating and raping Ly Sreynuon on Thursday, but denied murdering her.
“He asked the woman to have sex with him, but she refused, so he beat her unconscious and accidentally knocked her into a stream,” Mr. Saroeun said. The suspect then hauled his victim out of the water and raped her, Mr. Saroeun said.
According to the police chief, the suspect claimed that he only realized his victim was dead after the attack.
Police are unclear if the victim died from drowning, the beating administered prior to being knocked into the stream or during the sexual assault.
District police chief Nov Hach said the suspect had been driving drunk when he came across Ly Sreynuon riding her bicycle at about 7 p.m. Thursday.
“He saw that there was nobody around, that it was a quiet night, so he took the opportunity to rape her,” Mr. Hach said.
“Her body was found naked, her clothes were nearby, and there was an old motorbike [belonging to the suspect] parked near the body,” he said.
According to a U.N. report released last month, more than 1 in 5 Cambodian men aged between 18 and 49 admit to having raped a woman.
