Monk defrocked amid rape accusations

A CHIEF monk in Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia was defrocked yesterday after a face-to-face meeting with a woman who said he raped her.
The pair were brought together by officials from the Provincial Department of Cults and Religions and the Banteay Meanchey provincial and Serey Sophoan Buddhist offices.
During the meeting, Ke Lita, 20, repeatedly alleged that Sril Vanna, chief monk of Phnom Bak Loeu pagoda in Banteay Meanchey province, raped her.
The meeting took place at Samathiphal Pagoda in Preah Vihear province, which organisers believed to be a sacred place for truth solicitation.
Vanna got into trouble after a video leaked by Lita showed him licking corn in a sexual way at the request of Lita, though her face was not revealed in the video.
Another image showed Vanna gambling while in monk robes.
Nita said she leaked the video in an attempt to bring the monk back to resolve the problem with her after he seemed to try to evade her after the alleged rape.
"I posted the video because I could not contact him for months after he raped me at my house. He turned off his phone number and even threatened to kill me if I posted that video," she said.
Lita said the video was taken before the alleged rape and it was just playful because both of them loved each other and planned to marry.
However, the monk went to Banteay Meanchey's Poipet city and asked to stay at her home, where she accused the monk of raping her.
"What I said is all true," she said. "If it hadn't happened that way, I would not have let my family reputation be spoiled like that. Do you think it is a small thing? I want everyone to know what this monk is like".
She added that after the alleged rape, she accused the monk of trying to flee from her house the next morning without telling anyone in her family he was leaving.
Vanna denied this account. He did not deny the video or the pictures of him, but he said the sex was consensual and he told her he had left with no intention to escape.
"If it was really rape, why did you not shout or knock on the house because the house is made of wood with a corrugated tin roof and your parents were downstairs," he said.
The monk leadership from the provincial and city Buddhist halls decided to defrock Vanna and legal matters were left to the two parties. Lita said she would pursue legal action. — Khmer Times