Cambodian teen says parents chained her

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POIPET, Cambodia, July 2 (UPI) -- Cambodian police said they are investigating a 15-year-old girl's allegations her parents had her chained up in their home as a sex slave.

Human rights group Adhoc is also investigating allegations the girl was forced to have sex with French and Thai nationals and taken to Thailand to work as a prostitute, The Phnom Penh Post reported Monday.

"The girl told me that her parents forced her to work, to be a beggar and to have sex with foreign men since she was 13 years old," neighbor Khiev Bory told the Post Sunday.

The teen's parents said they keep the girl chained for her own well-being because she tries to sneak out at night to be with her friends.

"We do not put the leg cuffs on her any more, we just lock her in the house and sleep with her every night," the girl's father, Nuth Meoun, told the Post. "She just accused us, but we parents are angels to look after our children, so why would we force our beloved child to be a whore?"

Poipet Police Chief Um Sophal confirmed the girl is no longer in chains.

"We will keep investigating and watching the girl's family, because we are afraid the parents might do something bad to the girl after [police] have left," he said.