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| A 9-year-old boy was tied to the gate of an ice factory in Oddar Meanchey province last week. Photo Supplied |
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Mom Kunthear
The Phnom Penh Post
Oddar Meanchey provincial court officials plan to summon the owner of an ice factory who, along with his employees, allegedly
hit and tied up a 9-year-old boy he accused of picking up scrap metal
outside his Anlong Veng district factory last week.
Provincial prosecutor Koy Kanya told the Post yesterday that he
decided to investigate the case after seeing pictures provided by a
local reporter.
“It looks like … an abuse of the child’s rights.
If he did wrong or stole something, the owner has to send him to the
police. They should not [take the law into their own hands],” he said,
adding that he will first talk to the child and his parents.
The boy’s mother, who declined to be named, said yesterday that she
does not plan to sue the factory owner as she fears it will turn into a
problem for her family.
“I don’t want to file a complaint or demand compensation from the
factory owner,” she said, but added that she is angry they beat her son.
“My son told me that they hit his face two times and kicked him two
times as well. He was sick after they beat him, but he is better today,”
she said.
Chan Thy, the Kampuchea Thmey reporter who shot the photo, said the
boy had been tied to a fence for about 20 minutes before factory workers
came out and released him, adding that he had been to the boy’s home
and believed he was not a scrap metal collector.
The ice factory owner, Mao Sem, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The incident carries echoes of an episode last month in Battambang
province, in which a father beat his teenage son and chained him to a
pole in his village.
Police are still trying to find the father, 40-year-old moto-dop Sok Thoeun, who fled after the incident.
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