Tuesday, 22 September 2009 15:03 Chrann Chamroeun
OFFICIALS are calling the alleged “brutal” gang rape of a 14-year-old girl near Angkor Wat temple earlier this month a crime lacking in “social morality”.
Three of the five suspects appeared in court on rape charges last Friday. Police are still hunting for the remaining two suspects – one of whom police say is the victim’s boyfriend.
“We know their identities,” Chea Heng, chief of the juvenile protection section with the Siem Reap police, said on Monday.
“One is the victim’s boyfriend, and the other is his friend. We want to bring them to justice as soon as possible.” All of the alleged perpetrators are over 18 years of age, he added.
Police say the girl was attacked in Siem Reap town’s Kork Chork commune on September 12 after attending a traditional dance party with her boyfriend.
As the couple made their way home, the man allegedly dragged his partner into a forest area near the temple entrance and raped her.
“Following the rape minutes later, four men took turns raping her simultaneously during the night,” Chea Heng said.
“It was very brutal and humiliating. The victim and the perpetrator had a relationship, but he forcibly raped her and ordered other men to rape her repeatedly, which was lacking in social morality.”
The victim’s mother claimed the men had intended to kill her daughter, but instead let the girl go home after she begged and promised not to tell anyone what happened, police said.
Mao Yin, a provincial coordinator with the rights group Adhoc, promised that his group would launch a thorough investigation of the case today.
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