TAKEO provincial police have arrested a suspect in connection with the rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl whose body was found mutilated in a rice field near her home in Traing district early last week.

Heng Hort, the police chief of Smorng commune, in Traing district, said the suspect was arrested on Wednesday and had since been questioned by police, but declined to comment further since the investigation was ongoing.

The victim’s mutilated body was found in her village on October 25, with each breast skinned, her skin swelling and her left shoulder burned, commune officials said last week.

Leng Sarum, the victim’s uncle, said suspect Ly Mynin had disappeared on October 26 when police questioned the entire village, but was found and arrested at his home, 100 metres from the victim’s residence, the next day.

“Police told us that they are not sure whether the suspect really did it or not,” he said, and added that police opened an investigation after the family filed a complaint.

In its complaint, the family demanded 80 million riels (about US$19,047) in compensation and a life sentence for the killer, Leng Sarum said.

Twenty-four rape cases were recorded by Adhoc in Takeo province during the first 10 months of this year, a drop from the 32 cases recorded in the same period last year. In the year to September, the group recorded a total of 200 rapes across Cambodia, seven of which were reported as rape-murders.

Meanwhile, three suspects were arrested last week and charged on Friday at Kampong Chhnang provincial court for involvement in a double-homicide that took place in the province last week, court officials said yesterday.

Court Prosecutor Penh Vibol said two were charged with intentional murder and the other with acting as an accomplice to the crime, in which a 69-year-old woman and her 43-year-old daughter were hacked to death.

He said no hearing had been scheduled, but that he expected a speedy trial due to the wealth of inculpatory evidence. The suspects face 15 to 20 years in prison if found guilty, Penh Vibol added.

In Phnom Penh, police said they were still looking for a man who opened fire and killed another man opposite a high school on Monivong Boulevard on Wednesday morning.