In a bizarre incident, a group of 10 international tourists were arrested on Thursday, January 25, in Cambodia for what the officials termed was "pornographic dancing". The group of backpackers, including two girls, were taken into police custody while they were partying in a villa in Siem Reap, a city near Angkor Wat temple.
The authorities in Cambodia have told them that they could face imprisonment for up to a year and may also face six months of detention before the trial.
The incident came to light when Cambodian police released images of clothed tourists who were dancing in a sexually suggestive position. However, in an interesting twist in the tale, one of the tourists who was arrested, has claimed that none of the people in the photo released by the police were part of their group.
"Honestly, it was really confusing. Everyone was confused. They raided, rounded us up - there were about 80 to 100 people at this party, some of them were tourists. There were about 30 of them [police officers]," the British man was quoted by Daily Mail.
He further spoke on condition of anonymity, "We're innocent. We don't know why we've been arrested - we're getting different stories from different people."
The city of Siem Reap is close to the famous Angkor Wat temple in the northwest of Cambodia. As per reports, the trial for the detained tourists will be announced soon.
The age of the arrested tourists range between 19 to 35 and the group includes five British, two Canadians, one Dutch, a Norwegian and a New Zealander.
A statement released by the Cambodian police stated the word ''pornography' and 'dancing' and included the names of 10 tourists after an investigation by the Office for Combating Human Trafficking and Protection of Juveniles.
The tourists said that they have been in the police custody in Siem Reap for three days and have been sleeping on the floor every night. They also acknowledged that police were friendly with them and even bought them pizzas for a meal.
The Foreign Office in the UK is looking into the matter and have said that assistance would be provided to the British tourists and their families.
