The police officer who was detained on the order of National Police chief Neth Savoeun for hitting a woman while enforcing traffic law in Veal Vong commune of Phnom Penh’s Prampi Makara district has been sent to the municipal court.

According to the police report, officer Mat Pisey hit the woman, 22, on the head with his walkie-talkie while she and her 18-year-old brother were attempting to evade a checkpoint on a motorcycle. It said the duo was stopped for riding without helmets.

Municipal police spokesman San Sok Seiha confirmed to The Post on September 10 that Pisey was referred to court on the morning of September 10.

“The officer and the plaintiff could not reach a compromise, with both defending themselves. [Pisey] claimed that he did not hit her but was just raising his hand to signal the motorbike to stop and that she crashed the motorbike herself. The woman, on the other hand, said the officer hit her,” Seiha said.

Seiha said that from a legal standpoint, both the officer and the woman were in the wrong.

“The officer stopped the motorbike by force, which could have caused a [worse] accident. But if we think about the root cause, it happened because the motorist and pillion did not wear helmets. And what was more serious was that the motorbike did not stop at the checkpoint and instead tried to flee,” he said.