A male garment worker was tried yesterday at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over allegations that he raped a 19-year-old seamstress at a Sen Sok district factory in September.

San Saroeun, the presiding judge, said that Chan Thy, 28, an employee of the Chi An Garment factory, was charged with rape after being arrested on September 16 following a complaint filed by the grandfather of the alleged victim, Sim Dina.

Dina has since withdrawn the complaint, saying that she had consented to have sex with Thy, but despite the withdrawal of the complaint, Saroeun said the court would still try Thy for the alleged crime.

“He carried her to a quiet place inside the factory . . . where he forcibly raped her,” the judge said.

Thy acknowledged he had had sex with Dina but said he “did not rape her”.

In a letter read at the hearing yesterday, Dina said that she was withdrawing her complaint because she had consented to the encounter, and “loved” Thy.

“I agreed to have sex with him voluntarily on that day,” she wrote.

A verdict is due on December 30.