Death of 11-year-old being probed

PREAH Sihanouk provincial police and NGO Child Protection Unit (CPU) are probing the death of an 11-year-old girl who was found dead in Prey Nop district’s Prey Nop commune on Thursday.

Kol Phaly, the deputy provincial police chief in charge of serious crime, told The Post on Sunday that police were conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

However, Phaly declined to provide further details, citing ongoing investigation. “Police are working on it with technical expertise. I cannot tell you more,” he said.

But according to the CPU’s Facebook page on Saturday, a j o i n t t a s k f o rc e named “Lima19” was being established to investigate the girl’s death.

“CPU and forensic teams visited the crime scene again yesterday,” CPU’s director of operations James McCabe told The Post on Sunday.

The Facebook post said that on August 17, Oeun Sreynoch was seen at a loca l water park wit h her f r iends. She never ret ur ned home, prompt i ng her mother to search for her before reporting her missing t he next day.

On August 22, the Facebook post said, a v illager spotted a body ly i ng face dow n i n a shallow canal and reported to police, who came to inspect t he scene i n col laborat ion wit h CPU’s forensic ex per ts t o det er mi ne t he bod y ’s identit y.

“Our ex a mi nat ion resu lt showed t he body was confirmed to be that of missing Oeu n Sre y noch, a nd her deat h was r uled as a homic ide,” t he Fac ebook post said.

“Be assured no stone will be left unturned until we have found you justice,” the CPU said, referring to the girl.