Kampong Cham provincial court officials and police have moved to quell speculation in the case of a man who died at the local prison after collapsing in a police station toilet.

Kampong Cham police said the death of 38-year-old Tith Rorn on April 18 in Kampong Cham prison was down to him collapsing the previous day in the toilet of the provincial police headquarters while being temporally detained there.

The clarification came after Rorn’s father Eam Tita appealed locally and to the international community, including UN Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith, who is currently on a visit to the Kingdom, to help seek justice for his son.

Tita, the resident of a village in Kampong Cham province’s Stung Trang district, used a video clip posted on Facebook to issue his plea.

He said his son was arrested on April 15 by three commune police officials, with a neighbour informing him three days later that he had died.

Tita went to the commune police the following day (April 19) and was told he could take his son’s body home from the provincial prison.

According to pictures and video clips spread on Facebook, there appeared to be bruising to Rorn’s right eye and to his body.

“I feel sorrow for my son. I could not do anything. I am depending on NGOs to help find justice for him because I am not very well educated. I am depending on international NGOs and Ms Rhona Smith to find justice for us,” Tit said.

Kampong Cham police chief Em Kosal on Tuesday wrote a letter to the chief of the National Police regarding the case.

He said Rorn had collapsed in the temporary detention room at the provincial police headquarters on April 17, before dying the following day in the provincial prison.

Kosal said Rorn was an alcoholic who suffered shakes in the absence of alcohol.

“The bruises on his right forehead, right eye, right and left arms, and right foot were due to him collapsing face down in the restroom of the temporary detention room at Kampong Cham police headquarters on April 17,” he said.

In a video clip seen by The Post, a man in a room appears to stagger and fall onto the bed before his image leaves the camera’s view. Two other men enter and appear to attend to the first man, giving him what looks like Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

The unconscious man is left alone for less than 10 minutes before he appears to regain consciousness and sits up.

Ket Phal, Tuol Preah Khlaing commune police chief, said his officials had arrested Rorn following an order from the provincial court and had not beaten him.

Pak Cheat, Stung Trang district police chief, said Rorn had fled after the court had convicted him in absentia in 2010 on a charge of “intentional acts of violence”.

Hun Key, Kampong Cham provincial prison director, said Rorn had arrived at the facility with bruising to his eye and other parts of his body.

“When the prison received him, we saw he had bruises on his eye, hands and back. He died in the prison’s health centre after he collapsed and hit his head. No one treated him badly. We tried to help, but it was too late,” Key said.

Kampong Cham provincial court spokesman Huot Vuthy said on Wednesday that Rorn had committed “intentional acts of violence” in 2006.

He was sentenced in 2010 to one year in prison and an arrest warrant was issued, but Rorn had been on the run until his eventual arrest last month.

“Some media claimed this is a political case. No, it was due to him committing a crime, and we arrested him because a warrant had been issued,” Vuthy said.

Leng Senghan, a monitor with rights group Adhoc in Kampong Cham, said he had received a request from Tith to help seek justice for his son.

“We are following this case to see what caused Rorn’s death after police arrested him on April 15. He died on April 18 and we don’t know [the cause],” Senhan said.