Two teenage boys from Kandal’s Lvea Em district were charged yesterday with the rape of a seven-year-old girl, a court and police official said.

The suspects, aged 16 and 14, have been detained at the provincial prison since their arrest on Sunday evening, provincial prosecutor Ouk Kemseth said.

According to an anonymous district police official unauthorised to speak to the press, both boys were hired to watch a residence in Thma Kor village last week.

The suspects lured the girl into the house by offering to let her watch television, after which they each allegedly raped her, the officer said, adding that the girl’s mother filed a complaint last week.

One in five Cambodian men have committed rape, according to a UN report released in September.

The report also revealed that Cambodian rapists are strikingly young: Nearly 16 per cent committed the crime while under the age of 15, and more than half were younger than 20.