THE governor of Preah Vihear province’s Sangkum Thmey district will be summoned to provincial court next week to answer to charges that he attempted to rape a primary school teacher in February, a provincial prosecutor said Tuesday.

The 20-year-old woman has previously told officials that Ung Vuthy attempted to rape her when he stayed overnight at her family’s home while investigating a suspected illegal logging ring.

“We are still proceeding on this case and will summon district governor Ung Vuthy next week for interrogation over the attempted rape accusations, since we have already questioned the victim,” said chief provincial prosecutor Keo Sim.

He added that the victim had, at one point during her questioning session at the court, backtracked from her initial allegations, saying that she had welcomed the district governor’s sexual advances and had only filed a complaint against him after being pressured by rights groups. But Keo Sim said he suspected the victim had in fact been pressured by Ung Vuthy to alter her story.

Ung Vuthy could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Praing Thida, the chief of the provincial police Anti-human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau, said the suspect had said during

questioning with police that he never intended to rape the victim, and that he had only wanted to hug and kiss her in front of her parents to demonstrate his love for her and prove to them that he planned to marry her one day.