A young victim of a vicious motorbike robbery who clung to life for four days succumbed to her injuries yesterday, the same day her alleged attacker was charged with premeditated murder, police said.

Voeun Var, the older brother of the victim, said that his 10-year-old sister died at about 9am at Kantha Bopha children’s hospital in Phnom Penh, while his 8-year-old sister, who was also seriously injured in the attack, was showing modest signs of improvement.

“My other sister showed a little bit of recovery, as she can move very slowly, but she remains in critical condition,” he said.        

Pursat province deputy police chief Seung Sopheak, said that suspect Bun Yet, 28 – who was arrested on Tuesday in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district – was sent to court yesterday and jailed after receiving the murder charge.

Provincial court prosecutor Ton Seihak Decheah said that the case has now moved on to the investigating judge, who will conduct a deeper inquiry into the incident.

If found guilty, he added, “the suspect will face between 20 and 30 years in jail.”

According to police, Bun Yet, a resident of Kandal province’s Lvea Em district, allegedly beat three children – a boy, 6, and two girls, 8 and 10 – while stealing a motorbike from their home in Pursat, leaving the 6-year-old boy dead at the scene, and the two girls unconscious and fighting for their lives.

The incident occurred in Pursat’s Krakor district, while the young children’s parents were at work on a nearby farm.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Yuthana at [email protected]