A couple was questioned in Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday over the alleged sale of more than 30 Cambodian women for marriage in China and South Korea, police and court officials said.

Top Chhunlong, an assistant prosecutor at the court, said Bo Sina, 37, also known as “Yann”, and her husband, Chan Seiha, 37, were questioned at length over the alleged marriage brokering, but had not yet been charged.

An intelligence police officer from the Ministry of Interior, who did not want to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, told the Post that an investigation had linked Sina to the trafficking of 30 Cambodian women to South Korea since 2010 and seven to China this year.

“[Sina] trafficked many Cambodian girls to bosses at Chinese and Korean companies to be married off to foreign husbands in South Korea and China,” he said.

The couple had been arrested in response to complaints made by two of the young women sent to China, he added.

After being sold to massage parlours in China, the two women telephoned their parents in Kampong Cham province, who notified police.

The suspects were arrested in Phnom Penh on Saturday at their home in Por Sen Chey district’s Kakab commune, the officer added.

Sina has been accused of violating Article 15 on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation law, while Seiha has been accused of being an accomplice to human trafficking.

If the duo is charged and found guilty, they face up to 15 years in prison, the officer said.

The two suspects and their defence lawyers could not be reached for comment.