A 41-year-old man was charged with domestic violence yesterday for pouring boiling water on his wife last week, a relatively rare occurrence in a country where rights groups say the majority of domestic violence cases go unpunished.

The attack in Kratie’s Sambor district occurred when a drunken Nib Vet returned home and became angry with his wife, Proch Chea, for not having dinner prepared, Noun Sarin, district chief of the penal crimes office, said.

Local authorities initially wanted to settle the dispute outside the courts, but the victim’s family pressed charges, provincial police chief of the minor crimes office, Nov Sophal,  said.

“Before, police wanted to educate him by negotiation, but the victim is very seriously injured in the hospital, so we must send him to court for jail,” he said.

This impulse to circumvent the legal system is one of the reasons perpetrators of domestic violence are rarely punished, observers say.

A report released by Adhoc earlier this month stated that of the 532 cases of domestic violence the group recorded in 2011, only 67 resulted in an arrest.

“Most violence is rarely punished,” Thim Narin, provincial coordinator for Adhoc.

“Police [instead] always educate and negotiate.”

WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KRISTIN LYNCH