By Saing Soenthrith and James Welsh
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Villagers who Thursday held two women hostage in Phnom Penh's Russei Keo district claiming the pair had cheated them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars were surprisingly reticent in discussing the incident Monday.
Yoeun Chantha, Chroy Changva commune deputy police chief, pointed to an empty patch of grass at the entrance to Kien Klaing village where police had set up a booth for two days to take complaints from the hundreds of villagers who claimed last week that they had lost money in the scheme.
The booth was removed Sunday because no one had come forward, he said.
"We cooperated with the village and commune council chief, but no one came to complain," he said. "They are afraid."
Yoeun Chantha said he did not know why the villagers were now afraid to lodge a single complaint.
Sisters Yi Socheat and Yi Channy claimed Sunday that they had been detained by villagers in their own home for three days and tortured before they were finally released, bloodied and bruised, Thursday.
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The hundreds of villagers claimed at the time that 1,656 of them were collectively tricked out of $610,000 by three women who had set up an informal saving and loan scheme known as Tong Tin.
Asked about the case Monday, several villagers shook their heads and refused to discuss it.
Klaing Huot, Russei Keo district governor, said he was frustrated over the fact that no one has come forward.
"We have no way to solve this problem," he said, adding that neither the mob nor the two sisters will be investigated until complaints are filed with police.
Ministry of Interior spokesman Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak said the case is difficult to investigate as there is no law dealing with Tong Tin.
The government does not condone mob violence, he said, adding that the hostage-taking and the alleged Tong Tin scam will be investigated regardless of whether complaints are received.
Yoeun Chantha, Chroy Changva commune deputy police chief, pointed to an empty patch of grass at the entrance to Kien Klaing village where police had set up a booth for two days to take complaints from the hundreds of villagers who claimed last week that they had lost money in the scheme.
The booth was removed Sunday because no one had come forward, he said.
"We cooperated with the village and commune council chief, but no one came to complain," he said. "They are afraid."
Yoeun Chantha said he did not know why the villagers were now afraid to lodge a single complaint.
Sisters Yi Socheat and Yi Channy claimed Sunday that they had been detained by villagers in their own home for three days and tortured before they were finally released, bloodied and bruised, Thursday.
.
The hundreds of villagers claimed at the time that 1,656 of them were collectively tricked out of $610,000 by three women who had set up an informal saving and loan scheme known as Tong Tin.
Asked about the case Monday, several villagers shook their heads and refused to discuss it.
Klaing Huot, Russei Keo district governor, said he was frustrated over the fact that no one has come forward.
"We have no way to solve this problem," he said, adding that neither the mob nor the two sisters will be investigated until complaints are filed with police.
Ministry of Interior spokesman Lieutenant General Khieu Sopheak said the case is difficult to investigate as there is no law dealing with Tong Tin.
The government does not condone mob violence, he said, adding that the hostage-taking and the alleged Tong Tin scam will be investigated regardless of whether complaints are received.
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