Police charged a man in Banteay Meanchey yesterday with the rape of his 10-year-old stepdaughter, officials said.

Ham Muth, Commander of the Poipet Town Military Police, said a 28-year-old man was charged with raping his 36-year-old wife’s daughter.

Ham Muth said military police arrested the man on Friday at about 5pm in his house in Phum Poipet Thmey village, Poipet Town’s Poipet Commune, in Banteay Meanchey, after complaints from his wife and her daughter.

“He is the stepfather of the victim. He was charged by the provincial court with raping the juvenile girl five times,” Ham Muth told the Post.

He said the incident came to light to when the victim told her mother that her stepfather had burned her with a cigarette because she had refused to have sex with him on November 9.

The suspect will face at least 10 years in jail if he is found guilty.

Khoem Vando, information officer at Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE Cambodia), said the victim had been living at APLE’s partner organisation, based in Poi Pet.

“APLE will provide lawyers free of charge to defend the victim. It will also follow up this case in order to ensure that the suspect is tried, prosecuted and punished,” he said.