Father chains up son over gaming activities

Sok Khorn sits next to a post that he was chained to by his father on Tuesday in Battambang town. Photo Supplied

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Phnom Penh Post

A father was on the run from the authorities in Battambang town after he beat his teenage son and chained him to a power pole on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Deputy provincial police chief Colonel Cheth Vanny said 40-year-old motodop Sok Thoeun was upset with his son Sok Khorn, 13, for playing video games, and forcibly removed him from an internet café where he was gaming.

“He caught him and beat him very brutally,” Cheth Vanny said.

“As well as beating his son, he put chains around the boy’s neck and legs and locked him to a power pole on a nearby street in the village, in order to show [his son] to the public.”

Cheth Vanny added that after locking up his son, Sok Thoeun had left the scene and resumed his activities as a motodop.

Sok Khorn was unchained from the power pole by police and sent home to stay with his mother.

A villager in the area, who asked to remain anonymous, said Sok Thoeun was a cruel man and was often violent towards his children.

“I think his actions were very inhumane and cruel to his son,” the villager said.

Khan Sereyuthy, a lawyer for Bou Nou Ouk & Partners, said yesterday Cambodia’s penal code stated that any form of violence or torture used against a child was punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

“Any person who uses violence, detains or tortures a child is acting against the law,” Khan Sereyuthy said.

Police said they were searching for the suspect.