RAPE complaints in Kampong Speu province this month have already tripled the number reported in the whole of July, rights workers said Monday, adding that victims were becoming less likely to accept money in exchange for not filing a complaint with police.

Roath Thavy, a monitor with the Cambodian rights group Adhoc, said his office has seen six rape complaints so far in August, compared with two received last month. The last of these was a complaint filed by the parent's of an eight-year-old girl on August 8.

He told the Post that the complaint has been sent to police, but provincial authorities are denying that there is a spike in sexual assaults.

Tuy Thorn, deputy police chief in Kong Pisei district where the eight year-old was allegedly raped, said: "I sent the victim to the hospital and doctors said there is no injury from rape." He added that the victim's parents and the alleged 85-year-old culprit had come to an out-of-court agreement.

Rights groups say, however, that the number of reported rapes nationwide is rising as fewer victims accept money.