A military infantryman has been charged with rape for his alleged sexual assaults on his wife’s 13-year-old niece after she reported him to police, court officials said yesterday.

Sim Vitu, 33, a member of military unit 204 in Kratie province’s Snuol district, was charged and sent to jail on Wednesday. He awaits trial.

Huot Limheang, deputy director of penal crime for the Kratie provincial police, said the suspect was arrested earlier in the week after the complaint was filed by his wife.

He said Vitu confessed to police that he raped his wife’s niece when he was drunk and when his wife was not home.

But the last time Vitu tried to force himself on the girl, Limheang said, Vitu’s wife saw the whole thing.

She fled and contacted the authorities.

If convicted, Vitu could face 15 years in prison, Limheang said.

“I completely lost hope with my husband,” Lin Da, 31, told the Post.

“I ask the court to punish him in accordance to the law, without any tolerance,” she said.

Da said her niece, who was staying with the family to help with their children, told her that Vitu had raped her three times.

To contact the reporter on this story: Khouth Sophak Chakrya at [email protected]