An ethnic Phnong village chief was arrested yesterday by Mondulkiri provincial police for allegedly raping his 22-year-old daughter, police confirmed. The suspect, Tot Prut, 56, is a village chief from Ror Nhor commune in Koh Nhek district.

“The suspect has not confessed yet; but we got the information from the victim and sent her to the provincial referral hospital,” said So Sovann, a provincial policeman in Mondulkiri, adding that it was the first case he was aware of in the province of a father raping one of his children.

He said the police had been sceptical about the story at first, but that the victim was adamant that the rape occurred.

After the family ate dinner and the victim’s mother had gone to bed, the father allegedly snuck into his daughter’s room and raped her, said Klout Sokhea, a district police chief.

The victim then ran into the forest, where she spent the night. She reported the attack to the police the next morning, police confirmed. Evidence collected from the hospital will now be sent to the court.