A suspected human trafficker was tried on Friday at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over allegations that she imprisoned and exploited a woman she had promised work in Malaysia.

E Thavreak, presiding judge at the municipal court, said 41-year-old Huy Sreynang had been charged with “unlawful recruitment for exploitation” under the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.

In October 2014, he said, Sreyneang promised Yim Sreyheng, 31, a job as a garment worker in Malaysia with a salary of $300 per month.

Sreyheng subsequently left her home in Battambang province and arrived in the capital expecting to travel on to Malaysia to start work.

“But when the victim arrived in Phnom Penh, [Sreyneang] brought her to detain her at her house in Choam Chao commune for two days,” Thavreak said. “[Sreyneang] demanded that the victim pay her $250 in advance so that she could use it to make her a passport and other related documents for her to travel to Malaysia.”

“When she was neglected, the victim jumped the house fence and ran to the local police for intervention,” he added.

At court, Sreyneang admitted she had brought Sreyheng to Phnom Penh from Battambang, but insisted she hadn’t detained her or demanded the $250.

“The reason I decided to bring her to Phnom Penh was because she wanted to work in Malaysia because she can make a good salary there, and she promised to give me one month of her salary when she found a job in Malaysia,” she said.

A verdict will be handed down on June 9.