Actor, former “Mr. Asia” male pageant finalist and award-winning model Yith Meas Aussa was charged for domestic violence after a former girlfriend filed a complaint accusing him of violence and rape that she later withdrew.
Aussa, who also goes by Edwin, was a star on PNN TV shows, a semifinalist in the Mr. Asia male pageant as Cambodia’s representative in 2014, and winner of the 2018 Cambodia Model Star Award.
An order issued by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday directed that Aussa, 26, be detained at Prey Sar prison over charges of violence committed by a spouse or partner and intentional damage. The charges relate to an incident of violence on June 15 in Pur Senchey district, it reads.
The Phnom Penh military police said in a post on Wednesday that officers had arrested Aussa on June 20 following a complaint by a former girlfriend.
According to military police, the woman’s complaint says she met Aussa in 2019 and lived together as a couple. She had been beaten on seven occasions before breaking up on June 1 and moving in with her mother, the complaint says.
On June 15, around 4 a.m., a friend escorted her home after a night out. She woke up to see her friend fighting with Aussa, who destroyed property in the house, according to the military police summary of the complaint. The woman left the house for a time, but when she returned, Aussa allegedly slapped her, pushed her on the floor, took off his belt and whipped her, according to the complaint.
According to the military police’s account of the complaint, after the beating, which left bruises across her body, Aussa allegedly forced the woman to have sex. When he finished, he dragged her down the stairs by her hair, the complaint says.
The woman filed the complaint on June 17. Aussa was arrested on June 20, but she withdrew her complaint that day, military police said.
According to military police, her mother’s complaint over property damage and violence against the woman’s friend remains, and is the basis of the ongoing case against Aussa. The court document, however, specified that Aussa was charged under Article 222 of the Criminal Code, or “violence committed by spouse or partner,” punishable by two to five years in jail, as well as intentional damage. The court document did not contain a rape charge, despite the woman’s complaint describing the alleged crime.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Y Rin and Phnom Penh military police chief Rath Sreang could not be reached for comment.
