A former police officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for raping his underage stepdaughter, and on Saturday a 21-year-old man was charged for allegedly raping an underage neighbour.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge Kor Vandy said the man was arrested on June 5 at his home in the capital’s Russei Keo district following a complaint from his wife and the victim, who had been raped numerous times during the previous year and had subsequently attempted suicide. Neither the officer nor his lawyer could be reached for comment yesterday, but the officer previously told the court that he had fallen in love with his stepdaughter. “She was my wife’s daughter with her previous husband. I raped her because I loved her. I loved her and considered her as my wife,” he said.

Meanwhile in Pursat province, Krakor district police chief Bin Vanna said yesterday that a 21-year-old man was arrested on Friday afternoon at his home in the district’s Kampong Luong commune after police received a complaint earlier that day from a woman claiming her 13-year-old daughter had been raped.

Commune police chief Hang Bunthoeurn said the suspect and victim were neighbours,  and that the suspect had allegedly twice raped the victim last week while she was alone.