Three charged with gang-raping French tourist in Cambodia

Phnom Penh, Oct 19 (AFP) A Cambodian court has charged three men with gang-raping a French tourist in the coastal province of Kampot after offering her a ride in their car, police said Saturday. The three suspects were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday, days after the 43-year-old woman reported the sexual assault to police on October 12, Kampot provincial police chief Mao Chanmathurith told AFP.

He said the men had offered the tourist a ride to her accommodation while she was walking alone at 3 am before forcing her into the vehicle, driving her to a quiet area and raping her. "They were charged with rape and placed in pre-trial detention on Friday evening," he said.

The men -- a 36-year-old taxi driver and two construction workers aged 19 and 23 -- face up to 15 years in jail if convicted, according to court documents seen by AFP. Kampot, four hours southwest of the capital Phnom Penh, is a popular destination for foreign tourists looking for a quiet beach alternative to better-known hotspots like Siem Reap, home of the Angkor Wat temple complex.

But the coastal province has in recent years gained a reputation for drug use, attracting foreign and local traffickers eager to sell to a hard-partying backpacker crowd. In 2013, the town was rocked by the discovery of a mutilated body of a 25-year-old Frenchwoman floating in a river.

A Belgian was charged with the alleged rape and murder of the woman, but released on bail a year later due to a lack of evidence. (AFP) RS RS