Two men in court for alleged rape of mentally ill woman

RUSSEY Keo district police on Monday sent two men to Phnom Penh Municipal Court over the a lleged rape of a reportedly mentally i l l woman.

District police chief Kol Yi told The Post on Monday that the t wo suspects had been identified as construction workers Cheav Sina, 24, and Thuong Lay Him, 21.

“The police have finished interrogating them and they have been sent to court follow ing lega l procedure,” Yi said.

Norng Sarbong, Russey Keo district’s Tuol Sangke commune police chief, told The Post t hat af ter t he incident on Sunday, police took t he v ictim to a clinic for an examination.

A doctor was not there, so he asked the v ictim to wait for one to arrive. However, the v ictim did not do so and went home without being examined.

“On t he day of t he incident, I took t he v ictim for a medical examination to confirm she had been sexually assaulted. I asked t he v ictim’s family to again ta ke her for a medical examination,” he said.

Sarbong said t he v ictim’s mother filed a complaint with police, claiming t he t wo suspects had raped her daughter.

The v ictim identified t he suspects to her mother and t he police.

Sarbong said the suspects denied t he a llegation during questioning.

At the crime scene, an abandoned house, police did not find any ev idence aside from discarded under wear which may have belonged to one of t he suspects.

The younger brother of the v ictim said he saw Sina raping his sister with Lay Him naked nearby.

The brother shouted for help from his neighbours and the suspects fled t he scene, but the neighbours gave chase and kicked and punched the two men before police arrived.

According to National Police, Sina suf fered a head injur y in t he attack, while Lay Him’s urine tested positive for drugs.

The v ictim was reported to have been a former drug user, which t he family said caused her mental problems. However, she has not been certified as mentally ill.