"Woman charged with trafficking underaged girls to China", 22 July 2019

Kratie Provincial Court ... charged and jailed a woman for trafficking three underage girls for marriage in China ...

Colonel Nouv Ratana, chief of the provincial Anti-human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department, ... identified the accused as Chim Chantha, a 55-year-old farmer ...

Col Ratana said Ms Chantha was charged with unlawful removal for cross-border transfer following her arrest ... She added that the accused is facing between seven and 15 years in prison if convicted and is currently in pre-trial detention.

Captain Chan Sopheak, a police officer with the same department, said Ms Chantha was suspected of recruiting girls from poor families in Kratie and Tboung Khmum provinces to be married off to men in China ...

Cap Sopheak added that the unidentified woman, who is still at large, also prepared the victims for their journey, including arranging their passports, visa and transportation.

“But when the victims arrived in China, a Chinese national, who was the ringleader of the human trafficking group, took their passports and sold them to work as commercial sex workers and masseuses in a karaoke club there,” Cap Sopheak said.

“While living and working [in China], the owner of the karaoke club forced them to work hard to get paid. The owner of the club forced them to have sex with guests,” he added...