Ex-Policeman, 33, Appeals Conviction for Rape and Pimping Out 16Yo Girl
Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2021 1:15 am
Cambodia News(Phnom Penh) On the morning of 1 December 2021, the Supreme Court heard an appeal of a former police officer convicted of the crime of aggravated prostitution, by forcing a 16-year-old girl to have sex with men in return for payment.
The appeal was presided over by Judge Chiv Keng, and according to the judge's case file, the accused was Dim Makara, a 33-year-old ex-fire police officer in Prey Veng province, and the girl involved was 16 years old at the time of the crime.
The crimes were committed continuously over a four month period, between November 2017 and January 2018, in Rong village, Cham commune, Kampong Trabek district, Prey Veng province.
In 2019, Dim Makara was sentenced by the Prey Veng Provincial Court to eight years in prison on charges of aggravated assault involving victims under Articles 241 and 289 of the Criminal Code. He appealed to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court of Appeal, but his sentence was upheld. Despite this, he appealed to the Supreme Court.
Defendant Dim Makara was arrested on May 11, 2018, on the complaint of the victim, who said that the accused held her prisoner in a rented room for about four months to rape her, and then sold her to other men to have sex, in return for payment which was paid to the accused. In addition, the girl said that the accused threatened to kill her if she told her mother or anyone else what happened to her.
During the trial, Dim Makara denied the allegations and said that he had not done anything like that. However, Dim Makara admitted that he and the victim were lovers and were living together in a rented house in Prey Veng province for four months before his arrest.
Defendant Dim Makara maintained his request to have the Supreme Court drop all charges against him and release him. The Supreme Court will announce its verdict in the case on the morning of 8 December 2021.
