A POLICE officer in Koh Kong province has been accused of ordering colleagues to beat a man suspected of raping the officer’s daughter.

Sopy Savy, mother of 22-year-old suspect No Housen, said a group of armed police officers lead by police first lieutenant Eak Sopheak broke into her house last week in Koh Kong’s Khemarak Phumin town and brutally beat her son in sight of family members.

“Besides beating my son, Eak Sopheak also threatened to kill him and ordered his colleagues to cut my son’s neck with a knife,” Soup Savy said.

After the beating, she said, the police handcuffed her son and brought him to the provincial police station, where he was charged with rape on Thursday by the Koh Kong provincial court and is currently being detained at the provincial prison.

Neang Boratino, Koh Kong provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, said roughly 10 residents of Dang Tong’s Village 4, including No Housen’s family, had filed a complaint against Eak Sopheak with Adhoc and the provincial police department in relation to the beating. Thean Chanto, a neighbour of Soup Savy who witnessed the attack, said local residents wanted to stop the beatings but were intimidated by the armed officers.

Koh Kong provincial police chief Sin Sen said he had received the villagers’ complaint but would not pursue it.

“I think this is not a serious thing that the policeman did,” Sin Sen said. “He beat this young man because he was angry that the young man had raped his daughter.”

Cambodia appeared earlier this month before the United Nations Committee Against Torture in Geneva, the representatives of which urged the Kingdom to act against rampant violence against suspects in pre-trial detention. The committee also called on Cambodia to establish a civilian body to assess torture accusations against public officials.