A 29-year-old Mondulkiri man suspected of raping and murdering a young girl in the province’s Koh Nhek district committed suicide following the crime, a district police official said yesterday.

Krek Khvak, of the Phnong ethnic minority, allegedly raped and slit 12-year-old Teang Vang’s throat early yesterday morning before proceeding to hang himself in a hut near the girl’s home, said deputy district police chief Khlot Sophea.

“He committed suicide because he could not escape. He already raped her,” Sophea said.

Sophea added that the perpetrator was mentally ill and had physical impediments, such as poor eyesight and needing a stick to walk, making it “hard to believe that he could rape that girl”.

At the time of the crime, the victim’s parents were selling fish in a nearby market, with Sophea saying that the girl’s parents had been kind to Khvak in the past.

“Her parents were very kind to him and they gave him food to eat,” he said.

While the victim’s body was returned to her parents, the suspect was buried by the police.