The Prey Veng provincial court on Tuesday held a man in pre-trial detention for raping a minor in Ba Phnom district.

Provincial chief clerk Ath Sokhorn said on Wednesday that Pin Born, 61, a resident of Tapich Tbong village in Ba Phnom’s Reakchey commune, was arrested on Monday by district police and provincial Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection officers on five counts of rape involving the suspect’s 11-year-old neighbour.

“The suspect was sent to court on Tuesday afternoon. The court completed the investigation and charged him with raping a minor. It ordered the police to send him to the provincial prison,” she said.

“I am happy that the court charged and jailed him. Even though I have not received any compensation, the imprisonment of the accused is a way of rendering justice for my daughter,” the victim’s 41-year-old mother said.

She said she had sued the accused to demand a compensation of 55 million riel and ask the court to punish him in accordance with the law.

According to the mother, she and her husband would usually go to work at many distant provinces and, in their absence, ask the accused to look after their children – two sons and a daughter.

“I almost had a heart attack when my daughter told me that she was raped five times and threatened if she told the villagers about it,” she said.

The last rape incident occurred on November 29 at a hut behind the home of the accused while the mother was away, according to the victim.

Hearing the story, the mother filed a complaint to the police who took the accused in for questioning. The accused was momentarily released after claiming innocence.

However, on Friday, provincial Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection officers and district police arrested Pin Born and sent him to court.