Villagers call for chief of pagoda’s dismissal

MORE than 200 people from eight villages in Por Sen Chey district rallied outside the Phnom Penh home of Kork Khsach pagoda chief Venerable Choeng Engsour yesterday, demanding his removal.

The villagers maintain the chief beat a younger monk on March 5, an allegation that follows a complaint filed last year against his brother, Choeng Engthi, who is alleged to have thrown a can of soda at a fellow monk, cutting his head open.

Nou Sorphoan, 44, a villager representative, said that more than 200 Buddhists, priests and laypeople from the eight villages have called for the chief to be sacked before Khmer New Year.

“Now, all villagers are not happy and do not support Venerable Choeng Engsour as the chief of Kork Khsach Pagoda anymore, because he is incapable, corrupt and partisan. Besides this, he had committed a violent act against a young Buddhist monk and had also created partisans and the division of monks at the pagoda,” he told the yesterday.

Engsour could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Khieu Kosal, member of the Khmer Language Council at the Ministry of Cults and Religions, said he met villagers and received an official complaint on March 14 regarding the situation.

“I have also submitted it to the minister of cults and religions to try to find a solution for those involved,” he added. Minister Min Khin could not be reached.