May 17 2008
Phnom Penh - A Cambodian mother-in-law who forced her son's wife to live with and even give birth while housed in the family's pig pen has avoided prosecution because the victim refused to press charges, police said on Friday.
Deputy military police chief of north-western Banteay Meanchey province, Born Arun, said police stumbled on the abuse allegedly endured by Ieng Chan Thorn, 23, when they intervened to stop her husband beating her at a local guesthouse after she ran away.
"She said her husband frequently beat her with his mother's blessing and she made Thorn live with the pigs - she even had their three-month-old son with the pigs," he said.
"She said her mother-in-law didn't like her character because she used to be a singer."
However, he said police were powerless to help further after Thorn refused to press charges saying that she "could not live without her husband" and he was released with a warning.
Arun said Thorn believed her marriage was "kampia" - a Cambodian Buddhist term meaning a burden earned through the sins of her previous incarnation which must be suffered in her current life.
"It's the worst case I can remember, but under the law, we can't help her if she doesn't help herself," he said.
Divorce remains largely taboo in Cambodia's conservative society and women who discard their partners, whatever their reasons, are still often looked down on as social failures of bad character.
- Sapa-dpa
Phnom Penh - A Cambodian mother-in-law who forced her son's wife to live with and even give birth while housed in the family's pig pen has avoided prosecution because the victim refused to press charges, police said on Friday.
Deputy military police chief of north-western Banteay Meanchey province, Born Arun, said police stumbled on the abuse allegedly endured by Ieng Chan Thorn, 23, when they intervened to stop her husband beating her at a local guesthouse after she ran away.
"She said her husband frequently beat her with his mother's blessing and she made Thorn live with the pigs - she even had their three-month-old son with the pigs," he said.
"She said her mother-in-law didn't like her character because she used to be a singer."
However, he said police were powerless to help further after Thorn refused to press charges saying that she "could not live without her husband" and he was released with a warning.
Arun said Thorn believed her marriage was "kampia" - a Cambodian Buddhist term meaning a burden earned through the sins of her previous incarnation which must be suffered in her current life.
"It's the worst case I can remember, but under the law, we can't help her if she doesn't help herself," he said.
Divorce remains largely taboo in Cambodia's conservative society and women who discard their partners, whatever their reasons, are still often looked down on as social failures of bad character.
- Sapa-dpa
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