Two Men Charged With Raping Young Girls

In a string of recent sexual as­saults on children, two men were arrested last week on accusations of raping underage girls in two sepa­rate cases, police said Wednes­­­day.

Oeun Nang, 21, was accused of raping an 8-year-old on the morning of his Aug 12 arrest in Kompong Cham province, Kompong Siem district, said Sao Sroh, the prov­ince’s first deputy police chief.

The suspect lured the girl into the forest and attacked her, said prov­incial Deputy police Chief Seng Sokim. The victim’s brother witnessed the rape and shouted for help, he said.

The same day, Pich Hean, 46, was arrested in Kampot prov­ince’s Dang Tong district for raping a 5-year-old girl Aug 11 as she and her 7-year-old sister watched television at his nearby house, said Provincial Deputy Judicial Po­lice Chief In Chiva.

Pich Hean told police he is in­nocent, said Uy Vorng, chief of the provincial anti-human trafficking bureau.

Both men have been detained pend­ing trial.

Also in Kampot, police are seeking to arrest a 15-year-old boy accused of raping a 4-year-old girl, In Chiva said. The boy is ac­cused of raping her at his house in Chhuk district on June 29, In Chiva said.

Police, however, were not notified of the case until nearly a week after the incident, “because the parents were not aware of how the judicial system works,” In Chiva said.

Reports of rape have dramatically increased in recent years, particularly in the countryside, where children are often left unattended, said Sim Souyoung, di­rector of the NGO Protection for Ju­ve­nile Justice.

“Young girls suffer because they are usually friendly or trust their elder neighbors. Sometimes those girls are lured and raped,” he said.

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