Teen witness in abuse court case goes missing

A 17-year old girl who is the witness in a child abuse court case  has gone missing from a Non-Governmental Organisation shelter, Sovann Komar, since Sunday. Bradley James Gordon, a legal representative of the organisation, said yesterday  the girl’s sudden disappearance was a matter of concern, especially with her being one of the witnesses in a case filed against the former executive director of Sovann Komar, Sothea Arun.

“She went missing at about 3.30pm from the shelter,” he said, adding that the girl had given sworn testimony to the prosecutor at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in October about her horrific experiences she encountered with the accused when she was six years old. Gordon said the management of the shelter has enough reasons to believe that she may be with the accused.

In August 2019, Arun was removed as executive director of Sovann Komar, also known as Gold Children,  together with four other staff. Gordon claimed that Arun and the former members involved, continued to manipulate the children by persuading them to favour the defendants after discovering several text messages.

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