A teacher of traditional healing in Banteay Meanchey province was yesterday charged with raping his niece over a two-month period while he was supposedly treating her for a nervous disorder, police said.

Serei Sophoan district police chief Rem Vireak said 57-year-old Chhim Phea was arrested on Sunday and then charged after his niece’s parents discovered their daughter was two-months pregnant and that her uncle was the father.

The 21-year-old girl had been suffering from a nervous disorder for several years before her parents decided to send her from their home in Svay Rieng province to her uncle’s home for treatment by him.

“Chhim Phea was a famous and respected Khmer traditional healing teacher in the village,” Rem Vireak told the Post yesterday. “He had raped her many times while she stayed for treatment at his house and he impregnated her.”

Sum Chankea, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said such a crime merited severe punishment.