The family of Dum Rida, the 22-year-old Khmer literature scholar who was killed in a hit-and-run incident on March 26, has accepted $70,000 in compensation from the family of Khun Mey, also known as Yin Mana, the Range Rover driver.
The family of Dum Rida, the 22-year-old Khmer literature scholar who was killed in a hit-and-run incident on March 26, has accepted $70,000 in compensation from the family of Khun Mey, also known as Yin Mana, the Range Rover driver.
Sok Uorng, a lawyer for Rida’s family, told The Post on Thursday that her mother Phat Pov agreed to the compensation after negotiating with Mey’s father Yin Ngech at the Office of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday.
“My client Phat Pov decided to accept $70,000 in compensation . . . to end a civil lawsuit, while the prosecutor and judge will pursue a criminal charge against Mey in accordance with legal procedures,” Uorng said.
Dum Rida’s older sister Dum Van Neath initially demanded $200,000 in compensation, which she said was intended for scholarships to 23 poor students to promote higher education.
Van Neath also demanded the driver plead for forgiveness at Rida’s grave and the court to proceed with the case.
On the night of March 26, Khun Mey was driving her father’s Range Rover in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork district when her SUV crashed into Dum Rida’s motorbike, killing her on the spot.
The accident drew outrage from the public after footage of the mishap went viral on social media, prompting the Office of the Council of Ministers to denounce the hit-and-run and Prime Minister Hun Sen to appeal for more attention to the rapidly increasing number of traffic accidents.
Accompanied by her father Yen Ngech, Mey turned herself in on March 29. On the same day, Investigating Judge Bun Thy placed her in pre-trial detention at the capital’s Police Judiciaire (PJ) prison.
According to court documents signed by Investigating Judge Thy and dated March 29, Mey, a 16-year-old from the capital’s Boeung Keng Kang I commune, was charged with negligent driving causing death under Article 85 of the Law on Road Traffic.
Section 1 of the article states that an offender can be imprisoned for between one and three years and fined between four and 15 million riel ($1,000-$3,750) for negligent driving in violation of the obligations as required under the law and resulting in the death of others.
Section 2 of the same article states that if an offender flees the scene of the incident to avoid being held responsible, he or she is subject to between two and five years behind bars and face a fine of up to 25 million riel.
