Dognapper killed by angry
mob
11/05/2005
10:21 - (SA)
Phnom Penh - A Cambodian dog thief who gave up
his family rather than stop stealing dogs was
beaten to death by a mob of angry neighbours,
after authorities failed to persuade him to change
his pooch-purloining ways, police said on
Wednesday.
District police chief of Prey Kabbas in
southern Takeo district, Chum Chhoeun, said Bun
Rin, 35, had become famous in the area as a serial
dognapper.
To the chagrin of local villagers, he had
failed to change his ways even after 10 arrests
and separation from his wife, a dog meat vendor,
who had been the original market for his victims.
"He was known as a very professional thief. He
stole chickens, pigs and dogs, but he stole dogs,
in particular, day and night, and it seems his
neighbours lost patience and a mob beat him to
death," Chum Chhoeun told Deutsche Presse-Agentur
dpa by telephone.
"Before this happened, we arrested him at least
10 times and educated him not to do like this, but
the charges were too small to hold him, and as
soon as he was out, he would start again."
Rin became so famous for his professional and
prolific thieving of local canines for the
dog-meat trade that he was dubbed "the king of dog
thieves" by local media.
Chhoeun said the atmosphere was tense in Thmei
village, where the fatal beating took place just
before midnight on May 5, but the police were
unlikely to arrest a suspect.
"It is hard for us. The people accused us of
inaction, and now if we are tough there will be
confrontation. Anyway, police cannot name the
exact killer because there were so many people in
the mob," he said.
He said Rin, the father of one seven-year-old
boy, had been so addicted to his trade and the
lifestyle that went with it that he had ignored
his family's warnings to stop and eventually
forsaken them altogether.
"Even after he split from his wife, who sells
dog meat, he continued and just sold the dogs to
others. Even his parents were tired of him,"
Choeun said. "He stole dogs not to be rich, but
for money to buy drink and to feed lady friends."
- Sapa-dpa
