The Kratie provincial court charged two suspects on Tuesday with the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl in Chitr Borei district.
A 20-year-old suspect managed to evade capture, while a 16-year-old has been placed in pre-trial detention at the local prison.
Kratie provincial court spokesman Tiv Vuth Then told The Post on Tuesday that both suspects had been charged by Investigating Judge Lim Makaron.
However, only one had been sent to the provincial prison as the other had evaded arrest.
“The judge charged both suspects with ‘rape with aggravating circumstances’ under Article 240 of the Criminal Code,” Vuth Then said.
The suspects face between seven to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
Nov Ratana, Kratie provincial deputy police chief in charge of anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection, on Tuesday identified the suspects as Tou Riem, 20, and Monh Ne, 16, both from Serei Pheap village in Chitr Borei district’s Dar commune.
Ne had confessed to the crime to police but the final decision in the case rested with the courts, Ratana told The Post.
“The suspect claimed to be having a sexual relationship with the girl and offered her to his friend [Riem],” Ratana said.
Yan Heang, Chitr Borei district police chief, told The Post on Tuesday that police searched for the suspects after receiving a complaint from the girl.
“After they raped [the girl], they dropped her off at the side of the road. After eventually getting home, she filed a complaint with the police,” he said.
Heang said Ne and the victim had been in a romantic relationship for many months.
At around 6pm on Friday, he said, the two suspects were riding motorbikes towards Chitr Borei district’s Kantout market to eat, picking up the woman from her home along the way.
However, they did not go to the market but instead rode to a quiet place in the forest, where the two suspects took turns to rape the girl, Heang said.
The suspects then offered to take her home, but halfway there, they stopped at the side of the road, telling her to wait there for them, before riding off.
After waiting for some time, the woman called her family to take her home, before filing a complaint with Thmei commune police on Friday.
Police arrested Ne in Serei Pheap village the following day, while Riem escaped.
