A man accused of beating his 16-year-old daughter unconscious was sent to the Svay Rieng Provincial Court on Tuesday.

Police said the father was drunk and beat his daughter on September 13 in Thmey village, Chrork Mtesh commune, in Bavet town, for using her phone late at night.

Bavet town deputy police chief in charge of criminal offences Kao Horn named the suspect as Chan Chamroeun, 44.

“I have sent the father to the Svay Rieng Provincial Serious Crimes Bureau, and the police are taking further action,” Horn said.

Svay Rieng deputy police chief in charge of criminal offences Koy Sopheap could not be reached for comment.

Horn said although the assault took place on September 13, the daughter didn’t file a complaint to the police.

It was until she posted on Facebook that he was shocked and ordered officers to search for the suspect and arrest him on Monday.

Svay Rieng provincial police serious crime bureau chief Kim Lay said on Tuesday that the suspect was sent to the provincial court because he had used violence against his child.

“He educated his daughter, but he beat her until unconscious and used too much violence. He must not do that ever again,” Lay said.

A Bavet town police official in Chrork Mtesh commune who did not want to be named said the father was living with his three daughters, while the suspect’s wife left him to work in Phnom Penh.

The officer described the suspect as a heavy drinker who caused conflicts and often used violence against his wife and children.

The victim, who was interviewed on Facebook, said she told her father not to hit her and asked if her father was afraid of going to jail, but her father replied that he was not.

She said her father always beat her mother until she could not stand it and fled to live in Phnom Penh.

“If the law allows him to divorce my mother, it would be good because there is no happiness,” the victim said.