Girl, 14, Admits To Robbing, Drowning Four-Year-Old In Order To Afford New Mobile Phone

A 14-year-old girl in Cambodia has shocked local residents and authorities by admitting that she killed a four-year-old relative by drowning her. Her reasoning: she needed to rob the child in order to afford a new mobile phone.

According to Phnom Penh Post, authorities say the 14-year-old murder suspect is related to her four-year-old victim. She has admitted to luring the girl to a small dam in Samrong Tong district’s Krang Svay village, where she drowned her and stole her gold earrings.

The suspect, who has not been named in the press, then sold those earrings at a local market for about $20.50. She then took those funds and used them to buy a $19 Nokia mobile at a shop about 150 feet from the victim’s home.

The girl has reportedly confessed to the crime, even demonstrating on video for the authorities the way that she drowned her victim.

Authorities say the two girls were distant relatives, and the girl may not actually receive prison time for the premeditated killing of her four-year-old relative. The minimum age of “criminal responsibility” in Cambodia is 14, and authorities are still trying to firmly establish whether the admitted killer is indeed 14 years of age.

If she is of sufficient age to receive a harsher sentence, the girl could spend some time in prison. The penalty for intentional murder in Cambodia is 10 to 15 years of imprisonment. Given the suspect’s age, though, she could see a sentence roughly half that in duration.

[Lead image via Phnom Penh Post.]