A military police officer who allegedly shot a masseuse in the leg last week after she turned him away has been arrested and charged by Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Captain Sum Sinan, a deputy chief in the research department of the Phnom Penh Municipal Military Police, was charged yesterday with “committing a violent act causing serious injury”, said military police deputy commander Khen Sovann.

At about 1am on July 2, Sinan allegedly showed up at a Toul Kork district massage parlor while drunk, Sovann said, only to be turned away by employee Keo Srey Pov, 47.

“He got angry with the victim for refusing him the massage, so he fired three bullets into the ground near her legs,” Sovann said. “One of three bullets hit her right leg and caused her serious injury.”

Sinan initially got away on his motorbike but was arrested on Friday. If found guilty, he faces a minimum sentence of five years in prison.