Five men were charged in Kampot provincial court yesterday with raping a 16-year-old girl in Banteay Meas district, officials said.

Kampot provincial police arrested the suspects on Friday after the alleged gang rape took place in Sdech Kong Kang Lech commune on Thursday, provincial deputy police chief In Chiva said yesterday. Provincial prosecutor Chum Samban said that the five suspects had been charged with rape, but declined to comment further.

Sim Sorphea, investigator for rights group Adhoc, alleged the victim was riding her bicycle to look for firewood when she was stopped by 12 men, one of whom she had known previously.

It is believed they were drinking alcohol and coerced her to drink with them. “They forced her to drink alcohol and lured her to the upstairs part of a house, where four of them raped her before her older sister intervened,” she claimed.

The girl’s aunt added yesterday that her niece had left a private clinic, where she received medical treatment, and was now “weak and pale”. Srun Lam, Banteay Meas district police chief, said yesterday that provincial police were looking for the remaining suspects.