Alleged rapist cop freed after paying victim's family
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A Cambodian police officer has been released from custody after paying off the family of a teenager he allegedly raped, a media report said yesterday.
A 36-year-old border police officer called Leng Sarann was charged in July after he allegedly locked his victim in a jail cell, raped and beat her, according to The Cambodia Daily.
A court in the northern province of Oddar Meanchey ordered his release and he walked free on Friday, it quoted local police chief Ket Sothea as saying.
A rights worker in the area told the newspaper that Sarann paid the girl’s family US$5,000 (Bt162,650) to withdraw their complaint against him.
Sarann said he is innocent of the allegations, despite an initial confession. He refused to say whether he had paid money to the victim’s family to have the complaint dropped.
