A 50-year-old mentally ill man was beaten to death by his younger brother after he badly injured his mother with a meat cleaver in a dispute over cigarettes, police said on Monday.
Hout Leang Heng attacked his 66-year-old mother, Khy Ngor, at about 6 a.m. on Monday morning after she denied him cigarettes due to health concerns, said Seng Socheat, Sa’ang district police chief.
“He felt stressed when he couldn’t smoke, so he hacked at his mom,” Mr. Socheat said.
Hout Song Heng, 26, rushed to his mother’s rescue, as she had suffered serious injuries to the back of her head as well as her neck, hands, back and belly, Mr. Socheat said.
“The suspect hit his brother’s head with a stick in anger,” he said, adding that Hout Leang Heng died after five or six blows.
Mr. Song Heng admitted to killing his brother under questioning at the district police headquarters on Monday, Mr. Socheat said, adding that authorities were preparing to send the case to court today while his mother received treatment at the hospital.
