PHNOM PENH - A 17-YEAR-OLD Buddhist monk has been arrested and defrocked for allegedly raping a British woman at a tourist site in Cambodia's north-west, police said Wednesday.

Thorn Sophoan, a monk for just one month, was held on Tuesday after a 39-year-old British woman accused him of sexually assaulting her in Battambang province, local police chief Mey Chhengly told AFP by telephone.

'While the monk was guiding the British woman to see caves on the top of Phnom Sam Pov mountain, he raped her,' Mr Mey Chhengly said. The monk had allegedly confessed to the crime, he added.

Thorn Sophoan was defrocked immediately after his arrest and police are compiling documents so they can prosecute the man, who faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted of rape, Mr Mey Chhengly said.

Many young Cambodians become monks for short periods of time without necessarily devoting their lives to the clergy. They could be briefly ordained to pay gratitude to their parents, honour a dead relative, or study Buddhism. -- AFP