The Kandal provincial court has charged a 26-year-old man with the rape of a 10-year-old girl in Ang Snuol district on Thursday.

Chea Yorn, deputy chief of the provincial anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection office, said yesterday that Roeun Sok Heng, 26, was arrested at his home in Chhak Chhoeu Neang commune’s Trapaing Chuob village on Thursday following a complaint by the victim’s family.

“He was officially charged with raping the girl inside of his house,” Chea Yorn said yesterday, adding that the girl had been accosted while she was gathering lotus flowers for cooking near a pond behind her home on Thursday morning.

“She asked for help from the suspect, who was staying nearby, but the suspect said that he would only help pick the lotuses for her if she agreed to have sex with him,” Chea Yorn said. The suspect allegedly then retrieved flowers from the pond for the girl before bringing her to his home to rape her, Chea Yorn added.

Roeun Sok Heng is being detained at Kandal provincial prison ahead of his trial.