ISP stops attempted rape on I-65; suspect intended to force victim to marry him

JOHNSON COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — Indiana State Police stopped an attempted rape on the side of the interstate after a man said he intended to impregnate a woman he met online so that she would be forced to marry him.

According to ISP, 19-year-old Kung Bik Cem, from Tucker, Georgia, drove from Lifeway Baptist University in Jacksonville, Florida, to Southport to attend a wedding on March 25. The victim in the case is a woman he met online who was also going to be attending the wedding.

Cem said he had become friends with the woman on Facebook until she decided she didn’t want a relationship with him. They had never met in person until he showed up at the wedding and sat next to her. She said she couldn’t get him to leave her alone and had been ignoring his calls and texts.

Investigators stated that he said he took her cell phone to try to find out why she didn’t want to be with him. After he had her phone, Cem was able to get her to get into his car. Once she was in the vehicle, he said he was going to drive them to Georgia to get married. Cem told investigators he was going to “steal” the victim. Cem, who is Burmese, told police that this was allowed and customary in his culture.

Peter Thawnghmung is active in the Burmese community on the south side of Indianapolis. He calls Cem’s actions troubling by both American and Chin standards.

“Our Chin culture does not support that at all. I’m Chin. In fact, I’m really appalled that he would say something like that,” Thawnghmung added. “He’s got a really warped thinking. I can imagine, he’s obsessed,” Thawnghmung continued.

Police said the victim repeatedly stated that she wanted out of the car but that Cem told investigators he couldn’t let her out because he was in love with her.

The victim said she grabbed the steering wheel at one point and tried to put the vehicle into park. Cem stopped the vehicle around the 93 mile marker on southbound Interstate 65 in Johnson County. The victim tried to escape but was drug back into the car.

“Everything he did, from stealing the phone to dragging her or getting her into his car, keeping her there, driving down the street against her will, and obviously, the attempted rape at the end, absolutely is a crime of vast proportions,” said Johnson County Deputy Prosecutor Alex Hamner.

Cem then said he told the victim that he was going to impregnate her so that she couldn’t leave him. An ISP trooper who arrived at the scene around 3:30 p.m. said the pair were in the backseat of Cem’s 2015 Camaro. Cem’s pants and underwear were down. The victim’s underwear was down, and her dress was pulled up around her stomach.

The victim got out of the car and crumpled on the side of the interstate. Cem was placed in handcuffs.

Cem said that he drove up with a friend, Ze Cung, because his license was suspended. ISP said a BMV check did not reveal a suspended license for Cem.

Cem now faces felony charges of attempted rape and criminal confinement, as well as a misdemeanor charge of theft.

He has an initial hearing in court on May 11.