Seven men went on trial yesterday over allegations they gang raped a 24-year-old woman before murdering her and dumping her body in a vacant block of land last year in Phnom Penh’s Po Senchey district, according to court officials.


Presiding Judge Keo Mony said the seven men – Chin Navy, 29, Moeun Khley, 18, Mey Sour, 20, Mom Vannan, 20, Iem Luch, 22, Prey Sok Lak, 51, and Nang Navy – were arrested on July 30 last year and charged with “murder accompanied by torture, cruelty or rape” under article 205 of the Penal Code and could all face life in prison if found guilty.


Captain San Paeth, chief of Kakab commune police, said the attack happened about 12:30am on July 26 when the seven accused were drinking beer at the construction site where they lived.


He said one of the accused, Chin Navy, brought 26-year-old sex worker Vong Kunthear from a karaoke bar near the Phnom Penh International Airport to sleep with him at the construction site.


“After bringing the victim into the construction site, Chin Navy began to rape her first,” he said.


“After he finished raping the victim, he called all his drunken friends to begin raping her one at a time.”


He added that after the attack, the victim demanded each person pay $10 for using her and when they refused, she began shouting and cursing them. The suspects, afraid she would alert someone, beat and strangled her to death.


“After killing the victim, they wrapped her body in a hammock and threw it on a land plot nearby their construction site in the village.”


He said the victim’s body was later found by security guard Mr. Sok Lak on July 26. At yesterday’s trial, the court questioned three of the accused.


Mr. Sok Lak denied the allegations, saying he drank with the group but did not know Mr. Navy brought the victim back to the site.


“I confess that I have joined in drinking with them on that night. But I did not participate in the victim’s rape or her death,” he said.


He said he was the first man to discover the victim’s body and had reported it to police on July 26.


Nang Navy and Eam Loch confessed to raping Ms. Kunthear, but claimed they did not murder her.


“I would like to confess that I was the last person who had sex with her on that night, but I did not kill her,” he said. “After having sex with her, I went to sleep in my room.”


Their trial will continue in June with no specific date provided by the court.