07 Sept 2008
By Kang Kallyan
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the original article in French
A 16-year-old hostess (beer girl) working for a “beer garden” in Chamcar Mon (Phnom Penh) was abused by two men during the night of Saturday 05 September.
The two men who committed the crime were customers of the restaurant and they got acquainted with the young hostess during the evening. Lying in waiting in their car, they waited until the young girl and her mother – who always accompanied her daughter back to their nearby home every evening – to walk by and asked mother and daughter to follow them under the threat of a gun. The kidnappers got rid of the mother soon after by pushing her out of the car during the trip. In the process, the kidnappers also dropped one of their guns on the road. The car then took off to one of the numerous “love hotels” – guesthouse-like for short stay – located in Prek Leap, outside the city along National Road No. 6.
In spite of the screaming and the call for help by the victim, a room was still rented for them. The owner of the establishment did not even register their names, as required by the district police. Clients of the hotel, as well as the employees, turned a blind eye to the desperate begging for help by the victim who was raped by the two men. After their misdeed, the pair then took off in their car without any problem.
The young girl came out of the room after the rapists left, she then borrowed a phone from an employee to call her boss who came to fetch her. He then took her to the police station to file her complain. Her mother brought along the piece of evidence: the gun dropped on the road. The gun bears a serial number and if it belongs to a cop or a soldier, its owner can be traced.
The Prek Leap police chief cannot be reached on Sunday. This type of aggression – including kidnapping and rape of young women working in restaurants – are quite frequent in the city. However, the criminals are rarely arrested or brought to face justice. The police do not even keep track of the number of this type of violence.
The two men who committed the crime were customers of the restaurant and they got acquainted with the young hostess during the evening. Lying in waiting in their car, they waited until the young girl and her mother – who always accompanied her daughter back to their nearby home every evening – to walk by and asked mother and daughter to follow them under the threat of a gun. The kidnappers got rid of the mother soon after by pushing her out of the car during the trip. In the process, the kidnappers also dropped one of their guns on the road. The car then took off to one of the numerous “love hotels” – guesthouse-like for short stay – located in Prek Leap, outside the city along National Road No. 6.
In spite of the screaming and the call for help by the victim, a room was still rented for them. The owner of the establishment did not even register their names, as required by the district police. Clients of the hotel, as well as the employees, turned a blind eye to the desperate begging for help by the victim who was raped by the two men. After their misdeed, the pair then took off in their car without any problem.
The young girl came out of the room after the rapists left, she then borrowed a phone from an employee to call her boss who came to fetch her. He then took her to the police station to file her complain. Her mother brought along the piece of evidence: the gun dropped on the road. The gun bears a serial number and if it belongs to a cop or a soldier, its owner can be traced.
The Prek Leap police chief cannot be reached on Sunday. This type of aggression – including kidnapping and rape of young women working in restaurants – are quite frequent in the city. However, the criminals are rarely arrested or brought to face justice. The police do not even keep track of the number of this type of violence.
