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| Ya Soknim (R) with In Soklyda (L) |
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Mom Kunthear
The Phnom Penh Post
Acid attack victim Ya Sokhnim, the aunt of prominent beauty queen In Soklyda, died in Phnom Penh yesterday morning of injuries stemming from a 2008 crime masterminded by her niece’s lesbian lover.
Ya Soknim’s husband Uong Vibol, 46, said yesterday his 39-year-old wife had passed away about 9am after being admitted to the Calmette Hospital a week ago.
“I really pity and mourn my wife. She died because she was injured very seriously by acid,” he said.
On May 8 , 2008, two men on a motorcycle accosted Ya Soknim in the capital and poured acid over her face and upper body. She suffered severe burns as a result, losing her right eye and breast.
Chea Ratha, former deputy chief of staff of the military police and In Soklyda’s lover, was acquitted in absentia in August, 2009 along with six suspects: Ea Puthea, Meas Mao, Siek Chandy, Chan Dara, San Nuth and Siek Sophal.
Three months later, however, the Appeal Court reversed that decision and handed the suspects sentences of between 15 and 18 years in prison.
Although the Supreme Court reversed one conviction in October last year, it upheld the Appeal Court verdict for the remaining six and agreed Chea Ratha had ordered the attack after In Soklyda fled a forced lesbian relationship. Four of the suspects remain at large.
Evidence presented in court at the time of the investigation included recorded phone calls in which Chea Ratha threatened to kill In Soklyda’s relatives, phone logs for Chea Ratha and her co-defendants on the day of the attack, and a report confirming acid was found in the home of one of Chea Ratha’s associates.
Uong Vibol said yesterday that Ya Soknim had used so many medicines to treat her injuries that it had affected her health, causing lung and intestinal disease.
“She could not eat and she always vomited. I really pity my wife. She should not have died in a very difficult situation like this,” he said.
Am Sam Ath, senior monitor at rights group Licadho, said yesterday that he regretted both Ya Soknim’s death and that some of the perpetrators in the attack had not been arrested, even though the court had convicted them.
“She passed away carrying injustice with her because she did not see police arrest the perpetrators to punish them through the law,” he said.
National Police spokesman Kirt Chantharith could not be reached for comment yesterday, but told The Post in June last year that police had investigated the case and sought to arrest Chea Ratha.
“It is not easy to arrest her because she is not in our country. She lives in another country, so it is difficult to arrest her if the authorities in that country don’t co-operate with us,” he said.
Am Sam Ath added that police officials needed to improve their skills because there had been no arrests in connection with acid attack cases such as that of Tat Marina, a karaoke actress who was the victim of a brutal acid attack in 1999.
Yesterday, however, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced three perpetrators of an acid attack that took place in the capital in January this year.
Brothers Ne Phaneth, 23, and Ne Phaneath, 25, were sentenced to four years in prison for pouring the acid.
A woman, Hao La, was sentenced to three years in jail after it was found that she was responsible for initiating the attack on the victims, Rin Sok Lin and Seng Touch.
“They seriously wounded two women by pouring acid on them. These actions are against the law and have no place in Cambodian society,” Judge Seang Nang said.
“Therefore, the court has decided to sentence them both to four years in prison and jointly compensate the victims of the attack 30 million riel (US$7,315).”
Hao La worked in the same factory as Seng Touch which, according to police reports, was the site of an argument between the two women that eventually led to the acid attack.
All three of the perpetrators declined to comment after their guilty verdicts were handed down.
Their lawyers could not be reached for comment.
Rin Sok Lin, a 25-year-old victim of the attack, said she had wanted the court to sentence the perpetrators to five to 10 years in prison, but thought the sentences given were better than no sentences at all.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA
10 comments:
Very very sad.
Imagine you look into a mirror seeing visibly scars everywhere. It is too deperessive to anyone can bear the burden.
Taking medications to comfort the physical and emotional pain and tormented feeling is the method of escaping of being a life to live so much in misery and passive suicide perhaps is the only way to relieve the unbearable suffering.
May God bless her soul...
i think in the wake of all this acid attack, cambodia should make a strict law to punish those people who us acid to attack others, really! that is so barbaric, to say the least, really!
Just wonder ,Is In soklida still single and be available to get married.
It doesn't matter strict or loose laws, as long as is still CPP in power and rule by Kangaroo courts, the poor victims has ever gotten full justice.
i think if there is no law to prevent this cruel act, the cycle of violence will go around in circle. in other words, people will take law into their own hands, then some crook will have a rude awakening, i believe!
Why khmers are so evil? I thought they are kind like Lord Buhda.
I don't understand why Cambodia government protects the criminal like Chea, Ratha. That bitch must be arrested and put in jail. If she is in another country other than Cambodia, the Interpol must be alert so other countries so that she can be arrested. Why risk the country's image over a clear criminal?
3:00 AM,
The country has no law, and even it does have laws, those laws only apply to the poor people not the high ranking thugs.
Let's be truthful about this throwing acid it started at Saigon the very first case and Khmers copied from it.
The real story was like this. A Vietnamese woman from a rich family and she also was educated woman. She married to a man she loved and she and her family helped him to finish medical school became a Doctor. They had two daughters together, everything went so well, they had a big house and maids. One day another woman called and the wife found out that this woman was her husband lover. Since then she followed her husband who usually told her he had patients to visit at home and so on.
One day she spotted her husband's lover at near the market, she thrown acid on her husband's girl friend, and she was immediately took to hospital and pronounce dead later. The wife of Dr. was arrested and she was put in jail for life. In Vietnam this kind of crime is severely punished, but Cambodia is OK.
From then on, this acid stuff has continued to grow into Cambodia, Thailand and one case in the US.
cambodia should have a severe, strict law to punish the cruel people who did harm to others like this, period! if the gov't not do something about it, they will lose trust and confidence from the people and next time they won't vote for those people who did nothing to make a difference in cambodia. it only a matter of time and the law will catch up with them, really. like in the USA, if you cheated the irs, you may not get caught this time, but next time, i'm sure the irs will confiscated all their personal assets, etc... i think cambodia needs to have strict, unforgiven law like that to acid attacker, to tax cheaters, spousal abuse, child abuse, stealing, terrorists, cruel people who did harms to others in any way, shape or form, etc, etc, really! the gov't has gotten to put the law out and enforce it strictly, you know! how else you suppose to teach bad people to respect others and the law, etc, if you don't apply the punitive damage to them, really! if they think they can get away, they will do it again and again, really! it got to stop, period! put the right people in charge of the police, the military, the gov't, the leadership, etc, etc, ok! enough of this already! cambodia and all khmer people and citizens deserve better by now, really! how much do khmer people have to suffer like this cruel way, really! that is so not fair to khmer people and cambodia, you know! please put a law in place and enforce it strictly! i don't care what political party you affiliated with, just do it in the name of justice and making a real, lasting difference of all in cambodia, ok!
On our way to western, some refugees stayed in Galung Island, a place in Indonesia and some stayed in Phillipine during the transit to western countries.
There was a youn family, his wife cut her husband penis off during a family dispute. And another youn family, husband stabbed the wife in the throat using pair of scissors.
Pure cruelty and evil...the vietcong way.
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