Fishing trip ends in rape for little girl

Wednesday, 30 November -0001

Little Bopha* did not want to go fishing with her stepfather because he had twice asked her to touch him indecently.

Her 40-year-old stepfather made her accompany him to the lake early one afternoon in December 2012 in the Sala Krav District of Pai Lin Province.

When they got there, instead of fishing Bopha’s stepfather again indecently assaulted her and then raped her.

The little girl was threatened that if she told her mother, he would kill her.

Unfortunately this case reflects a common pattern for child rape in Cambodia. The victims often know the offender and they are assaulted in a place which should be safe for them in or near the family home.

After the assault Bopha was bleeding so much, her stepfather told her to wash in the lake and that he would come back to pick her up in the evening.

Bopha’s mother asked where she was when the little girl was not with her stepfather when he returned to the house at 3pm.

He claimed she had returned half an hour before him, but that if she was not home, she must have gone to see her friends at school.

At 4:30pm when Bopha was still missing, her mother went looking for her and eventually found her at the lake.

Her daughter was clearly distressed and when she asked her what had happened, her daughter told her everything.

She revealed to her mother that this was the third incident and that her stepfather had threatened her not to tell. On previous occasions he had taken her to the lake or under a bridge far from the house.

Bopha’s mother complained to police and the offender was arrested two days later when they managed to locate him.

The stepfather was sentenced to 12 years jail on 26 July 2013 after being found guilty at trial earlier that month.

After the offender had been arrested, police contacted SISHA, who immediately stepped in to provide support and legal counseling. SISHA later arranged a lawyer to represent the girl free of charge and accompany her to court.

Since July 2011, the average age of sexual assault victims supported by SISHA has been 12-years.

As well as providing emergency aftercare and legal advice to victims, SISHA works to support police with their investigations to ensure justice for the victims.

* Name of victim has been changed to protect her identity.