A 42-year-old man was sent to Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court on Saturday, after police arrested him on accusations of raping a 13-year-old girl in Poipet’s Phsar Kandal commune earlier this month.

Men Phirun, a spokesman for the provincial military police, said the victim was walking home from school alone on May 13 when a moto taxi driver, In Brak, allegedly pulled her into a forested area near Chankiri village and raped her.

Phirun said the police had begun their search for the suspect after they saw details of the crime on social media.

He added that “after the suspect was on the loose for six days, the victim saw the man in a public place and pointed him out to the parents, who then reported the incident to us. Authorities then arrested in Brak on Friday.”

James McCabe, the head of the National Police’s Child Protection Unit, said child rape by strangers was less frequent than child rape by people that the victims is familiar with. The same was true of child murder cases, he added.