Police arrested a Cambodian man who impersonated a manpower agent to take two sisters to Malaysia on the pretext of getting them jobs, but instead tortured and raped the victims at his house.

Police said according to the victims’ mother, the ordeal began in July 27 last year when Chhou Chamroeun, also known as Vanna, took a 28-year-old woman to Malaysia and in February this year, lured her 18-year-old sister there as well.

The sisters, from Tbong Khmum province, are Khmer Muslims while Chamroeun is from Prek Peam village in Peam Chilaing commune, Tbong Khmum district, Tbong Khmum province.

Provincial court spokesperson Theng Kieng told The Post yesterday that Chamroeun, 55, was arrested in Cambodia last Friday and is waiting to be charged in court.

He travels from Cambodia to Malaysia regularly and owns a house there.

Tbong Khmum district deputy police chief Seng Ni said the suspect lied to the parents that he will secure jobs for the two daughters in Malaysia and promised to pay all expenses incurred in their travel.

“In February, Chhou Chamroeun returned from Malaysia to meet the parents again. He told them their elder daughter was well and sought permission to take the 18-year-old daughter to Malaysia as well.

The parents trusted and allowed him to take the younger daughter.

“After taking them to Malaysia, he detained the victims in his home and did not allow them to work. The two girls were forced to stay with him. He even asked the two victims to marry him,” said Ni.

In addition, the man behaved violently towards the two – beating them and shaving their heads bald, added Ni.

Unable to bear the torture, the sisters informed their parents and the mother filed a complaint with local authorities to save her two daughters.

“We charged him for unlawful removal [of people] and cross-border transfer of people in accordance with Article 8 and 10 of the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation Act.

“The case was sent to an investigating judge who ordered Chamroeun be detained [in prison] since Sunday,” Said Ni.

Ni said the victims were still in Malaysia and a human rights group was coordinating with the Cambodian embassy in Malaysia to repatriate them.