Update on dangerous supersition
Warning: graphic details ahead
So the police have not yet arrested anyone in connection to the murder and evisceration of the young pregnant girl in Battambang. Some more facts have come to light however the two major newspapers in Phnom Penh don't seem to agree on the details.
According to the Cambodge Soir, the girl was twelve, not thirteen, and her family gave the police the name of the perperator. Apparently the victim and perperator's families were close before the murder but the victim's family have moved now for fear of other attacks.
According to the Cambodia Daily, she was raped and in addition to her fetus, her attacker also cut out her internal organs - liver and gallbladder. Her intestines were found outside her body. It also turns out that the victim's brother in law, Leang Lonh, was the one to find her. He then fled the area and hasn't been heard of since.
The Phnom Penh Post may also cover this crime, but it's not out until tomorrow. Despite the fudging of details in the cited newspapers (one is more reputable than the other!), this is truly a horrific crime and here there doesn't appear to be much outrage. If this happened in another country, the hype would be considerable. I wonder why there is no discussion of the crime at all. It could be a combination of lack of literacy, fear, no shock factor, or superstition.
Disgustingly enough, this is not the first time organ theft has occurred in the same area. Two years ago, a man was killed and his liver stolen, presumed eaten. Yes eaten. Under the Khmer Rouge, it was not uncommon to eat fried human liver. Apparently it contains special powers.
Which brings us to cannibalism. Cannibalism is practiced culturally, by necessity or by the mentally unstable. It could and has been argued that eating a human liver under the Khmer Rouge was motivated by extreme hunger and was a question of survival, as well as ritual.
Neil Davis reported that Khmer (Cambodian) troops ritually ate portions of the slain enemy, typically the liver. However he, and many refugees, also report that cannibalism was practised non-ritually when there was no food to be found. This usually occurred when towns and villages were under Khmer Rouge control, and food was strictly rationed, leading to widespread starvation. Any civilian caught participating in cannibalism would have been immediately executed. Source
However, although the vast majority of those in rural Cambodia are living in extreme poverty, I doubt that, if the perpetrator stole the girl's organs to consume, that it is due to famine. This whole story is disturbing. Perhaps the police will catch the criminal in the days to come and the newspapers can devote another three inches to this horrific crime.
So the police have not yet arrested anyone in connection to the murder and evisceration of the young pregnant girl in Battambang. Some more facts have come to light however the two major newspapers in Phnom Penh don't seem to agree on the details.
According to the Cambodge Soir, the girl was twelve, not thirteen, and her family gave the police the name of the perperator. Apparently the victim and perperator's families were close before the murder but the victim's family have moved now for fear of other attacks.
According to the Cambodia Daily, she was raped and in addition to her fetus, her attacker also cut out her internal organs - liver and gallbladder. Her intestines were found outside her body. It also turns out that the victim's brother in law, Leang Lonh, was the one to find her. He then fled the area and hasn't been heard of since.
The Phnom Penh Post may also cover this crime, but it's not out until tomorrow. Despite the fudging of details in the cited newspapers (one is more reputable than the other!), this is truly a horrific crime and here there doesn't appear to be much outrage. If this happened in another country, the hype would be considerable. I wonder why there is no discussion of the crime at all. It could be a combination of lack of literacy, fear, no shock factor, or superstition.
Disgustingly enough, this is not the first time organ theft has occurred in the same area. Two years ago, a man was killed and his liver stolen, presumed eaten. Yes eaten. Under the Khmer Rouge, it was not uncommon to eat fried human liver. Apparently it contains special powers.
Which brings us to cannibalism. Cannibalism is practiced culturally, by necessity or by the mentally unstable. It could and has been argued that eating a human liver under the Khmer Rouge was motivated by extreme hunger and was a question of survival, as well as ritual.
Neil Davis reported that Khmer (Cambodian) troops ritually ate portions of the slain enemy, typically the liver. However he, and many refugees, also report that cannibalism was practised non-ritually when there was no food to be found. This usually occurred when towns and villages were under Khmer Rouge control, and food was strictly rationed, leading to widespread starvation. Any civilian caught participating in cannibalism would have been immediately executed. Source
However, although the vast majority of those in rural Cambodia are living in extreme poverty, I doubt that, if the perpetrator stole the girl's organs to consume, that it is due to famine. This whole story is disturbing. Perhaps the police will catch the criminal in the days to come and the newspapers can devote another three inches to this horrific crime.
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