Three men were arrested Saturday for the gang rape of a 22-year-old woman in Kompong Chhnang province after a night of heavy drinking, police officials said Sunday.
The 22-year-old woman from Toek Phos district’s Kraing Skear commune joined a group of male acquaintances who were drinking on the roadside on Friday night, said commune police chief Bun Soeun. After she left, three of the men—Orm Chhin, 33, Vun Sora, 22, and Ra Vith, 22—pursued her.
“They chased her and raped her behind some small bushes about 20 meters from the place they were drinking,” Mr. Soeun said. “Her family found them gang-raping the woman after they heard her screaming, and then the rapists ran away.”
The police called the three men in for questioning the next day after the victim’s family filed a complaint, and were promptly arrested after they confessed to the crime, said district police chief, Khem Vibol.
“They confessed that they raped her four times altogether,” Mr. Vibol said. “They got caught because they were spotted.”
The three suspects are currently being held in the provincial police station, and will be sent to court today to be charged, Mr. Vibol said.
According to rights group Adhoc, there were 140 cases of rape reported in the first nine months of the year. A U.N. report in September revealed that 1 in 5 men in Cambodia aged between 18 and 49 have raped a woman. Researchers found that in Cambodia, gang rape—known as “bauk” in Khmer—was the most common form of non-partner rape, registering at 23 percent.
