Blood on Cambodian dance floor as police beat up "serial kisser"

Oct 15, 2010
DPA

Cambodia's police have a reputation for corrupt and sometimes brutal behaviour, and are seldom held accountable for their actions

Phnom Penh - A 21-year-old man said police arrested him at a public dance and beat him up after telling him he was kissing too many young women, local media reported Friday.

Mey Ravy told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper that seven police pounced on him at the dance a week ago in Kampong Cham province east of the capital.

'I asked them why, but no-one responded, and I was handcuffed and thrown,' he told the newspaper. 'When I fell on the ground, one of them used his feet to press on my neck, and they rubbed a lit cigarette into my back.'

He said police then took him to the police station.

Mey Ravy denied the allegation that he was 'kissing and looking at many girls.'

'If I had done that, I would have been killed by those people, and the police wouldn't have needed to beat me,' he said.

Mey Ravy's mother said police came to broker a compromise after she filed a complaint with a local human rights group.

'But I will not withdraw my complaint,' she said. 'They use their authority to torture innocents.'

Local police were not available to comment, but an official who organized the dance in Kampong Cham province claimed Mey Ravy had been a disruptive presence and had kissed many of the women there.

'We told him not to do it, but he didn't listen,' said Khiev Bunthet, denying allegations of violence. 'He fought back against us so we had to arrest him.'

Cambodia's police have a reputation for corrupt and sometimes brutal behaviour, and are seldom held accountable for their actions.