Duo trafficked to China freed in joint effort

Bo Sina, 37, hides her face under a jacket as she is escorted into
Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday. Pha Lina

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea, The Phnom Penh Post
Sun, 24 November 2013

Cambodian and Chinese police have rescued two of the seven women allegedly sold to men in China by accused human trafficker Bo Sina.

According to police, the two women, aged 24 and 17 from Kampong Cham province’s Kang Meas district, were trafficked by Sina earlier this year to marry in China, but were then sold on to other men.

A senior police official from the Intelligence Department at the Ministry of Interior who asked not to be named told the Post the women had been repeatedly beaten and forced to have sex by their Chinese husbands “every day”.

“Because they could not support their Chinese husband’s desires, they were sold on to other Chinese men and again to a massage parlour,” the police official said.

The joint Cambodian and Chinese police task force made the rescue after the women called their parents earlier this month from the massage parlour asking for police intervention.

Both women will be repatriated and returned to their families today, according to the police intelligence official. Meanwhile, police have identified the remaining five women believed to have been illegally trafficked to China for marriage by Sina.

“So far, we have identified their names. We are now working hard to rescue them and send them back to their families in their homeland.”

As reported by the Post, Sina, also known as “Yann”, and her husband were arrested last week over the alleged sale of more than 30 Cambodian women for marriage in China and South Korea.

According to police, the husband denied all knowledge of his wife’s alleged trafficking.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court clerk Sok Vireak told the Post that Sina was charged with three separate human trafficking and sexual exploitation offences on Friday.

Sina has been remanded to custody at Prey Sar prison, while her husband was released “under the court’s control”.

Sina is expected to face court in the next six months and if found guilty, faces up to 15 years jail.

The accused and their defence lawyers could not be contacted for comment.