Cambodian women charged with repeatedly selling teen as virgin

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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, May 8 (UPI) -- Two women in Cambodia charged with procuring prostitutes repeatedly sewed a teenage girl's vagina so she could be sold as a virgin, officials say.

The defendants were charged under laws that cover human trafficking and sexual exploitation, The Phnom Penh Post reported Wednesday.

One of the victims allegedly forced into prostitution, a 16-year-old girl, said she met defendant Chea Kimyenh, 32, in Phnom Penh in August 2011 and was offered a well-paying job.

Kimyenh allegedly took her to a customer, who paid $200 to have sex with her, in September of that year. The teenager testified that she was regularly sent to meet wealthy customers in hotels.

Some customers would pay more than $1,000 to have sex with a virgin, the teenager said, so Kimyenh would sew up her vagina.

Tith Phon, 47, is charged in the prostitution operation along with Kimyenh. They were arrested after the victims complained the women took sizable cuts of what the women were paid for having sex, the judge said.

The suspects said they didn't know the victims and denied the accusations.

The judge's verdict is to be released May 30.