Retired King Norodom Sihanouk this week alerted the public and government that an impostor has impersonated one of his sons murdered by the Khmer Rouge after a man appeared in a news media report early this month saying he was a the child of the former King.
Oum Weachiravuth, deputy director of the Royal Palace Cabinet, said yesterday the retired King’s statement of Feb 6 was in response to a Feb 1 story in the Khmer-language newspaper Koh Santepheap Daily about a 66-year-old man in Kampot province’s Chhuk district who claimed to be the deceased Prince Naradipo.
“Prince Norodom Naradipo ‘Nga’ and Prince Norodom Khemanourak ‘Kahor,’ my sons, are dead, killed by the Khmer Rouge,” Norodom Sihanouk said in the statement. “The false Naradipo, Khemanourak, who currently deceive our people, are nothing but charlatans.”
“I ask our beloved people to not be deceived by these charlatans and I ask our respected authorities (Government, Courts, Police Governors, Administrators, etc…) no longer to tolerate such impudent charlatanism,” the former King wrote.
Chhuk district governor Ngan Seth described the man as poor and “crazy” but said officials have no indication he has tried to profit from his assertions. The man also gave an erroneous age, since Prince Naradipo’s Feb 10, 1946 birthday would make him 64 years old today.
In the past, the retired King has also denied reports that his son Prince Naradipo was still alive. In April 1995, he called a man distributing a cassette tape on which he claimed he to be the son of the retired King an impostor. He made a similar denial in July 2003.
(Additional reporting by Neou Vannarin)
