Police Disputes Crash Victim’s Allegations Over Compensation Agreement

2 min read
A traffic police officer in Phnom Penh on September 15, 2020. (VOD)
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The Phnom Penh Police are contesting claims made by a woman who was injured in a road accident earlier this week, who said her thumbprint was used while she was unconscious to sign a compensation agreement.

The woman, her baby and another man were riding a motorcycle on Monday at Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva bridge when a car hit them, according to a police report. The three motorcycle riders were seriously injured and sent to hospital, while the driver of the car, a 19-year-old man, was found inebriated and arrested.

Moch Srelyeak, the injured woman, told VOD on Wednesday that she didn’t agree to thumbprint a $2,500 compensation agreement that would end the case because she was unconscious after the accident. She believes someone thumbprinted the agreement using her finger.

“For the thumbprint, I was unconscious. Someone held my hand for my thumbprint,” she said.

The case also spread fast on social media after Sreyleak shared the allegation to a popular Facebook news page.

On Tuesday night, the police posted a copy of the agreement and said the victim had agreed to drop charges and accept $2,500. The police also said that the complaint hadn’t been completely dropped and that a prosecutor was still investigating the crash.

On Thursday, the Phnom Penh Police released another Facebook post and said the woman was not unconscious while in hospital. They released a video interview with a doctor at the hospital, who said she was seriously injured when she came to the Ponleu Clinic but was conscious during her treatment there.

“Her condition was that her eyes and head were injured. She wasn’t unconscious. She came out from the ambulance and walked by herself to the room,” the doctor said in the video.

Ky Tech, who is a government lawyer and part of the prime minister’s volunteer lawyer team,  said on Wednesday that four lawyers are working on this case.

“I have appointed four people to work on this case. Importantly, we are finding out the truth. We are protecting the women and the baby,” he said.

Interior Minister Sar Kheng was speaking at a road accident event and made an oblique reference to the case, saying he did not support letting off perpetrators of drunk driving accidents.

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