Koh Kong Provincial Police are questioning and filing a case against a Khemarak Phoumin town police official over a fatal traffic accident on the night of July 24.

A 12-year-old girl died at the scene while her aunt was seriously injured in the incident in front of the Chea Sim Samaki secondary school in the provincial town.

Provincial police chief Kong Mono told The Post on July 27 that his team had received the case of the police official who hit the pair’s motorbike from the back with his Ford pick-up.

The girl, a student of Chea Sim Samaki Secondary School, died instantly and her aunt, who rode the motorbike, was rushed to the provincial referral hospital.

"[We] will send the case to the provincial court after questioning,” he said.

Preung Sarath, the woman's uncle and husband, said his family demanded that the police official pay $70,000 in compensation and that the court punish him according to the law.

"This case is seriously emotional impact on the girl’s parents who sent her to live with me in Koh Kong. They wanted the girl to learn in the province so they could take care of her sick grandmother at home. But unfortunately, she lost her life in traffic accident. I am so sad to lose my beloved niece. She is a smart girl, clever and my wife is seriously injured. Our motorbike is damaged,” he said.

Provincial court deputy prosecutor Vey Phearom said that as of the morning of July 28, the court had not yet received the case from the town or provincial police.

Phearom noted that despite negotiations between the families of the victims and the perpetrators, the police need to send the case to court as this is a criminal case. And the victims’ families should file a complaint at the provincial or town police station.

Sarath said his niece was from Prey Veng province’s Kanh Chriech district, but her parents sent her to study in Koh Kong.

Sarath identified the police official as Keo Panha, from the intervention force of the Khemarak Phoumin town police.

Panha, he said, was driving at high speed from a restaurant to the roundabout. When he reached Chea Sim Samaki Secondary School, he hit the pair’s motorbike, which was driving in the same direction, dragging several meters.

"Witnesses at the scene noticed that the perpetrator immediately tried to remove the licence plate and ran into another car to escape. But the people took his picture, so that police can identify the perpetrator,” he said.