Sek Seng

VPA-KD0053

Sek Seng

Female

Khmer

Khmer

Veal Kandal Village, Kok Trap Commune, Kandal Stung District, Kandal Province

19470605

Farmer

Veal Kandaol Village, Kok Trap Commune, Kandal Stung District, Kandal Province

1977

Sang Prison, Trea Commune, Kandal Stung District, Kandal Province

My name is Sek Seng and I currently live in Veal Kandaol Village, Bakou Commune, Kandal Stung District, Kandal Province.

Detention in Sang prison:

At the end of 1977, while I was harvesting rice near Prasat Pagoda in Kung Nory Commune, Kandal Stung District, Kandal Province, the female unit chief Thon came to me and stated, “Sister Seng! Get yourself ready to go to the rice threshing yard at Bakou [Commune].� This took place at around 7:00 p.m. My eleven-year-old child then ran after me. Thon immediately took my child’s hand out of mine and said, “Children with children; mother with mother.� In front of the unit chief, Thon, I said to my child, “You have to go back to your place. Mom is not going to the rice-threshing yard. I might be killed. You need to stop crying or I won’t be able to rest in peace.�

My child then returned to his place and Thon led me to the rice mill situated in Bakou Village, Bakou Commune, Kandal Stung District, Kandal Province. Inside the mill, there were 21 other captives whose hands were tied behind their backs. A combatant came and asked me, “Where do you live? Which village?� Later, a truck arrived and all of the captives were taken to Sang Prison, which was located near Tonle Bati [Bati River]. I was detained in a tiny, closed room, along with about a hundred other inmates. The Khmer Rouge cadres locked the door tightly and stood guard outside the cell.

The Khmer Rouge ordered us to transplant, pull and harvest rice, and carry earth without a break. For meals, the Khmer Rouge offered us only a ladle of watery gruel which was not enough. The inmates in my room started disappearing one by one. I didn’t know where they had been taken, but they never came back. During the course of my detention I was once interrogated, but I didn’t know the name of the interrogator. He asked me, “Where do you live? Which village? What do you do for a living?,� and continued, “What was your husband’s job?� I responded, “He was a teacher.� He inquired further, “How many siblings do you have?� “I have four siblings. A younger one is a soldier, the second is also a soldier, and the third is a medical staff person,� I answered. He also asked about the relatives of my husband. After that the Khmer Rouge sent me back to the cell. I was arrested and detained in Sang Prison because I was accused of being a capitalist and a CIA agent. The chief of Sang Prison at that time was Mong; later the chiefs were Heng and Boeun. Several inmates who were detained with me at that time are alive, namely Vat (now living in O-Andaung Village), Hieng (living in Tbaung Kdei Village), and Sok (living in Veal Kandaol Village, Bakou Commune, Kandal Stung District, Kandal Province).

Part C:

My name is Sek Seng and I am currently living in Veal Kandaol Village, Bakou Commune, Kandal Stung District, Kandal Province. As a result of the forced labor and overwork I endured during the Khmer Rouge regime, I have pain in my abdomen and spine. I have not been able to perform work effectively. Whenever I hear any loud noise, I am immediately startled. I feel terrified and my heart races. I am always irritated whenever I hear about the Khmer Rouge.

Civil Party

No;

Hospital

No;

20081003

© DC-Cam