A fisherman was killed in Kandal province early on Tuesday morning after walking into an electrified wire intended to protect a farmer’s cauliflower patch from rats, police said.
Hin Vichet, 35, was heading home after fishing in a pond in Kien Svay district’s Dei Ith commune at about 3 a.m. when he walked into the ankle-high wire that was connected to a car battery and was instantly killed, according to district police chief Pa Som Et.
“The farmer set up the illegal trap to protect his crop, which is always being damaged by rats,” he said, declining to name the farmer because police are searching for him.
Mr. Som Et said that another farmer discovered Hin Vichet’s body and notified police, as well as the man who had set up the wire, causing him to flee.
Roeun Nara, deputy provincial police chief, said that using electrified wires to protect crops was illegal, although he admitted that the practice of using them as a rat deterrent was widespread.
