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Man drove to Indiana from Florida to 'steal' woman he met online, force her to marry him, police say

Posted at 11:20 AM, Mar 31, 2017
and last updated 2019-03-26 15:54:37-04

SOUTHPORT, Ind. -- A Florida college student is accused of coming to Indiana over the weekend so he could “steal” a woman he met online and force her to marry him.

Indiana State Police were called to a disturbance at Interstate 65 between Whiteland and Franklin around 3:30 p.m. last Saturday.  Trooper Joseph Malone said he heard a woman screaming and saw a man on top of a female in the back seat of a vehicle. The trooper said both of them were partially undressed and he had to pull the man off of the woman.

Kung Bik Cem, 19, told the trooper that he met the woman on Facebook and the two had an “online relationship” until she had tried to end it a week earlier.  

Cem said he drove to Indiana from his college, Lifeway Baptist University in Florida, with a friend so he could meet the woman at a family wedding and take her home with him because he was in love with her.

He told the trooper several times that this type of behavior is “allowed and customary" in his culture. The woman also said several times that she did not want to go with Cem.

Cem said he could not sleep in the hours before the wedding because he was so excited about what he was about to do and that he convinced the woman to get into his car by stealing her cell phone at the wedding.

He tried to drive away with her and explain his plan, but she took the keys out of the ignition and threw them on the floor.

Cem told the trooper he blocked the woman from getting out of the car and threatened to get her pregnant so she could not leave him and would be forced to marry him.

He is charged with attempted rape, criminal confinement and theft.