TACOMA, Wash. — A woman who serves as a nun at a Buddhist temple in Tacoma was beaten last week in what may have been a tenant dispute, according to officials.
Nguon Huon is still recovering from the attack, which happened around midnight on Sept. 21. One of the monks at the Khmer Theravadin Buddhist Temple sent KING 5 a video that shows Huon being beaten up.
“He was holding a hammer, and then he pushed me down, and then punched me in the head, and threatened me with the hammer,” Huon said as she recalled the attack. “Three of them were beating on me."
Huon said three people attacked her because she was trying to stop them from cutting open the chain-link fence surrounding the temple.
The temple’s abbot, Chea Poeuv, said this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.
“They come almost every night to cut the chains on the fence. About 1 or 2 a.m., they come to cut the fence,” said Poeuv.
The beating may be centered around a tenant dispute. Huon lives at the temple, which also rents out extra rooms, and she said she lives with one of the suspects. There are also claims that one of the alleged attackers often brings disruptive guests inside, which leads to trouble.
Following the attack, leaders at the temple said they now want them all out.
“They live here without any kind of lease or anything. They break in to live here,” claimed Sinoun Hem, who works as the temple’s public relations manager.
Tacoma police arrested the alleged attacker, but he was released the next day, officials said.
The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said charges for the attack are pending, but they are waiting on more information from the investigation.
Tacoma police said once the suspect in the case was released, the detective on the case notified the leaders of the temple and also Huon to advise them of the resources available to them, including applying for a protection order against the suspect.
Despite the traumatic experience, Huon said she’ll continue to come to the temple, because she said it's where she belongs.
“I want to stay here and help the temple and have peace and help people learn about the Buddhist religion,” Huon said.