• Society

Deputy Prosecutor Violence Complaint Dropped

• By Teng Yalirozy
• March 15, 2022 11:38 AM

Wife says she exaggerated incident out of anger

PHNOM PENH--The wife of Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor Moth Dara has withdrawn her complaint that he assaulted and threatened to shoot her. Heng Mouy Kea said she had exaggerated the situation.

Mouy Kea filed a complaint on March 13 alleging her husband had also assaulted a domestic worker on the night of March 12. Following the complaint, Moth Dara was put under investigation.

She said that this was not the first time he had threatened or mistreated her, including hitting her. Moth Dara had asked for a divorce but she refused. Conflicts between them had continued since then.

However, on her official Facebook account, Mouy Kea posted on March 14 that she had said  things that were not true out of anger.

She said they argued when Moth Dara came home on the night of March 12. Moth Dara wanted to talk with her upstairs but she refused. Dara tightly grasped her hand and dragged her upstairs, the post said.

Mouy Heng said she was so angry that she was not thinking straight. She exaggerated her situation and exposed it to the public.

Moth Dara did not threaten to shoot her or assault her. He only grasped her hand tightly, she said. No other part of her complaint was true.

“This clarification is made without force or fabrication to evade reality,” the letter read. “Journalists and the public, please understand me and my husband about this incident.”

Social researcher Sek Socheat said influential, powerful, honorable people in Cambodia rarely face legal action.

“They usually have someone to facilitate their work, and they can also solve disputes within their families,” he said.