Police in Banteay Meanchey’s Mongkol Borei district are searching for a man accused of brutally raping a 14-year-old girl.

he victim was discovered alone and crying as she walked down National Road 6 on Tuesday night, district police chief Si Di said. She was brought to the police station to make a complaint and is now at a provincial hospital, where she is being examined.

“We felt very bad for the victim when she told us she was beaten and raped twice,” Di said. “We will search for the suspect and bring him to justice.”

That suspect was identified as 21-year-old Ken Run of Battambang province. Run knew the victim because his wife’s father is involved in a romantic relationship with the girl’s aunt, who is also her caretaker, police said.

The victim’s uncle, Vet Rith, said the girl was staying with her aunt because her parents are working in Thailand.

Taking advantage of their familiar relationship, the suspect allegedly tricked the victim’s aunt into leaving the house by telling her his wife was in the hospital. He then went back and lured the victim, who he knew was alone, out of the house.

In an interview yesterday, the victim confirmed that the suspect threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the rape.

“It was dark and he dragged me by my hands into a cassava farm, slapped me twice and punched me in the stomach once,” she said.

The suspect also told the victim he would build her a house and take her as his second wife, she added.