Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Surrogacy suspects quizzed by Phnom Penh prosecutor

Surrogacy suspects quizzed by Phnom Penh prosecutor

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
One of the suspects in the surrogacy case (behind police) is taken to court in Phnom Penh on Monday. Pha Lina

Surrogacy suspects quizzed by Phnom Penh prosecutor

Five people accused of running an illegal surrogacy agency were sent to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday and questioned by a prosecutor, said the municipal anti-trafficking police chief, Keo Thea.

“We have sent the five to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. I have not received the report about what they were charged with,” Thea said.

On Thursday, anti-human trafficking police arrested the five after a raid on a surrogacy agency. They were Chinese national Liu Qiang, 49; and Cambodians Svay Sinuch, 34; Noeun Sreylang, 27; Lim Sopheap, 19; and Thai Pheap, 43.

The raid also discovered 33 women in various stages of pregnancy, living on the agency’s premises. They were allegedly paid to have children for its Chinese clients.

Thea said the 33 pregnant women will have to bear responsibility for the children when they are born.

“The children were born from the women’s womb, therefore, they have to take care of them . . . the children are theirs,” he said

He said the women could be punished under the law if they are found to have taken money to give up their children.

“They rented their wombs. The government already issued guidelines to stop this. According to the law, children belong to the womb it was born from. So women who take money and give up their children can be punished,” he said.

The director of the Phnom Penh Department of Social Affairs, Mom Chandany, said the pregnant women are being housed at an NGO. “The women now are safe at the NGO and it is caring for them,” she said.

Municipal court spokesman Ly Sophannam could not be reached for comment.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Ministry orders all schools, public and private, to close for SEA Games

    From April 20 to May 18, all public and private educational institutions will be closed to maintain order and support Cambodia's hosting of the 32nd SEA Games and 12th ASEAN Para Games, said a directive from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Cambodia will host the

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • Almost 9K tourists see equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat

    Nearly 9,000 visitors – including 2,226 international tourists – gathered at Angkor Wat on March 21 to view the spring equinox sunrise, according to a senior official of the Siem Reap provinical tourism department. Ngov Seng Kak, director of the department, said a total of 8,726 people visited Angkor Wat to