Two monks were defrocked and arrested on Wednesday after a complaint was filed against them alleging that they had tried to rape a 19-year-old woman in Kampong Thom province.

Yorng Sam, Stung district police chief, said that Vun Veth, 17, and Tann Tort, 20, had allegedly attempted to rape a local fruit seller after she sold guavas to the pair from the district’s Beng village.

“When I offered guavas to those two monks, the two monks hugged me and grabbed my hands,” the police complaint reads, according to Sam. “Then they tried to rape me, but I managed to escape.”

After she had fled, Sam continued that she rode her motorbike to her parents’ house to tell them, and then to the police station. “Both monks were charged with attempted rape of the victim and were sent to provincial court,” Sam said.

Sem Savin, director of the local religious affairs office, said Veth had admitted to the offence, bringing disgrace to the pagoda.

But he added that Veth and the alleged victim, a second cousin, had been seen kissing previously at the temple.