A 21-year-old woman has been hospitalized with critical injuries after two men doused her in alcohol and set her alight at a casino in Kompong Cham province in the early hours of Friday morning, police said Sunday.
The woman, Voeng Kim Eng, 21, works as a card dealer at GMG Casino in Ponhea Krek district’s Trapaing Phlong commune, along the border with Vietnam. After arguing with her boyfriend, Run Chamroeun, 28, a chef at the casino, Mr. Chamroeun and a friend, Pov Piden, 23, set her on fire in one of the casino’s staff bedrooms, according to provincial police chief Ben Rath. “After she scratched her boyfriend’s hand, the woman was poured with alcohol and burned,” Mr. Rath said. “She was burned from her upper body to her head. Her hair was burned.”
Ms. Kim Eng was initially taken for treatment to the district hospital, but her injuries were so severe that her family took her to Vietnam for further medical treatment on Friday evening, Mr. Rath said.
“According to her family, they have no hope for their daughter’s life because she is struggling to breathe in the hospital,” he said.
Mr. Rath said that the GMG Casino had initially tried to cover up the incident and had not called police to the scene of the crime.
“The casino tried to hide the incident,” he said. “The police heard of the incident from villagers who saw the victim being transported to Vietnam.”
Police apprehended Mr. Chamroeun and Mr. Piden near the casino on Saturday after they were reported to have been talking about the attack with villagers, trying to convince people that Ms. Kim Eng had attempted suicide.
“Police accuse them of attempted murder,” Mr. Rath said.
According to Chim Seng Hong, the deputy provincial police chief, the two men are being held in custody by Ponhea Krek district police.
GMG Casino could not be contacted.
