A couple accused of torturing a 7-year-old girl and her 14-year-old sister they held as maids were formally charged by a Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge yesterday.

After being questioned, Veng Vyna, 33, and Chiem Srey Doung, 30, of Meanchey district’s Boeung Tompun, commune were each charged with human trafficking and intentional violence, a court clerk said. The two were transferred to Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison.

The girls lived in the home of Vyna and Srey Doung, where they worked as maids, said Prum Santhor, Phnom Penh deputy police chief in charge of human trafficking.

“The two girls were tortured by the couple, but the 7-year-old girl was badly injured on her back and body,” said Keo Thea, head of anti-human trafficking and child protection in Phnom Penh.

Exact details of why the girls moved in with Vyna and Srey Doung remain unclear, with some aspects of the couple’s story conflicting with others interviewed in the case, Santhor said. But they came to know the girls’ father when he sold them furniture for their house.

Police removed the girls from the couple’s custody on Friday and arrested them on Sunday.