The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday continued to hear the case of a 44-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man charged with trafficking a young, deaf, mute and HIV-positive girl to a brothel in the city’s Chamkar Mon district.
The female suspect, Em Sophea, whose daughter was friends with the victim, is accused of sending the 13-year-old girl to the brothel after the girl came to stay at her home.
The male suspect, Lounh Chan, is accused of helping take the girl to the brothel. On the first day of the trial on February 3, Ms. Sophea denied the accusation and said she had not been at home on the day the child was taken to the brothel.
At Wednesday’s closed-door hearing, however, the victim testified through a sign language interpreter that it was Ms. Sophea who transported her to the brothel, the girl’s defense lawyer, Sorn Sudalen, said.
“The girl spoke to the judge much better than before, when she was scared,” Ms. Sudalen said.
“When the judge asked her who took her to the brothel, she pointed to Ms. Sophea.”
A verdict is due on February 24, Ms. Sudalen said.
