2 Articles from "The Cambodia Daily," Jan 23, 2008
3-Year-Old Girl Killed in Kampot Acid Attack
A 3-year-old girl was killed and her 46-year-old grandmother severely burned when acid was thrown on them as they slept in their Kampot province home Jan 16, relatives and police said Tuesday.
Thorm Saroeun was sleeping beside her granddaughter Thai Tim at around midnight in her house in Angkor Chey district's Dambok Khpos commune when an unknown perpetrator approached the pair and doused them both with a very corrosive type of acid.
The victim did not see her perpetrator, but Thorm Saroeun's son said he suspects the jealous wife of a man who works with another female member of his family.
Thorm Saroeun, who sustained burns to 30 percent of her body, lay wrapped almost entirely in gauze Tuesday afternoon on a bed at the Children's Surgical Center on Phnom Penh's Chroy Changvar peninsula, where she arrived the evening of Jan 17 and is currently receiving treatment free of charge.
Pich Nary, a cousin who lived next door, said that she ran over to Thorm Saroeun's house after hearing her shout for help. Thorm Saroeun's kin was very red and she was pouring water over her face and body, while most of her hair had been burned from the top of the child's head and some of her skin was falling off.
Neighbors helped rent a taxi and they arrived at Takeo provincial hospital – which was 100 km away – at around 2 am.
Takeo health officials referred them to Phnom Penh, but the transport was costly, and Thai Tim died at 9 am while negotiations to rent transport were still underway, Pich Nary said.
Acid violence, usually associated with crimes of passion, is a relatively common form of revenge in Cambodia...Nora Lindstrom, project manager at Cambodia Acid Survivors Charity said legal reform in Cambodia is needed to ensure a decrease in acid violence and that she would like to see acid violence cases fast-tracked in the judicial process and specifically mentioned in the criminal law.
"There needs to be uniform mandatory punishment that doesn't depend on who is on trial, but on what they did," she said.
Malaysia Islamists Want Separate Lines Enforced
The hardline Islamist rulers of a Malaysian state will punish supermarkets and department stores that ignore strictures on separate checkout lines for men and women shoppers. Nik Aziz Nik Mat, head of the Parti Islam se-Malaysia, has ordered officials to slap fines of up to $304 on store operators who do not tell customers to queue separately...The 1996 order was meant to discourage "social ills," such as young couples kissing in public or perverts who groped women.
A 3-year-old girl was killed and her 46-year-old grandmother severely burned when acid was thrown on them as they slept in their Kampot province home Jan 16, relatives and police said Tuesday.
Thorm Saroeun was sleeping beside her granddaughter Thai Tim at around midnight in her house in Angkor Chey district's Dambok Khpos commune when an unknown perpetrator approached the pair and doused them both with a very corrosive type of acid.
The victim did not see her perpetrator, but Thorm Saroeun's son said he suspects the jealous wife of a man who works with another female member of his family.
Thorm Saroeun, who sustained burns to 30 percent of her body, lay wrapped almost entirely in gauze Tuesday afternoon on a bed at the Children's Surgical Center on Phnom Penh's Chroy Changvar peninsula, where she arrived the evening of Jan 17 and is currently receiving treatment free of charge.
Pich Nary, a cousin who lived next door, said that she ran over to Thorm Saroeun's house after hearing her shout for help. Thorm Saroeun's kin was very red and she was pouring water over her face and body, while most of her hair had been burned from the top of the child's head and some of her skin was falling off.
Neighbors helped rent a taxi and they arrived at Takeo provincial hospital – which was 100 km away – at around 2 am.
Takeo health officials referred them to Phnom Penh, but the transport was costly, and Thai Tim died at 9 am while negotiations to rent transport were still underway, Pich Nary said.
Acid violence, usually associated with crimes of passion, is a relatively common form of revenge in Cambodia...Nora Lindstrom, project manager at Cambodia Acid Survivors Charity said legal reform in Cambodia is needed to ensure a decrease in acid violence and that she would like to see acid violence cases fast-tracked in the judicial process and specifically mentioned in the criminal law.
"There needs to be uniform mandatory punishment that doesn't depend on who is on trial, but on what they did," she said.
Malaysia Islamists Want Separate Lines Enforced
The hardline Islamist rulers of a Malaysian state will punish supermarkets and department stores that ignore strictures on separate checkout lines for men and women shoppers. Nik Aziz Nik Mat, head of the Parti Islam se-Malaysia, has ordered officials to slap fines of up to $304 on store operators who do not tell customers to queue separately...The 1996 order was meant to discourage "social ills," such as young couples kissing in public or perverts who groped women.
