After Separate Murders, One Man Arrested, Another Wanted

A man in Oddar Meanchey pro­vince’s Samraong City was arrested Saturday for allegedly killing his wife during an argument, while police in Svay Rieng province’s Bavet City are hunting for a man who allegedly killed a man for having an affair with his wife, officials said yesterday.

Bavet City police chief Keo Pung alleged that Khun Vesna, 37, used a machete to strike Vath Sophal, 35, eight times Saturday morning when Mr Vesna saw him drive by his house in Chrak M’tes commune.

Mr Pung added that Vath Sophal had been having an affair with Mr Vesna’s wife for about two months and that police had warned him to stay away from the suspect.

“The suspect saw the victim look at his wife, so he was in a bad temper and took a machete to strike the victim,” he said.

While police sympathized with Mr Vesna, especially after police had tried to intervene in the love triangle, they were now attempting to arrest him for murder, Mr Pung said, ad­ding that Mr Vesna’s whereabouts were unknown.

Meanwhile in Samraong City, police chief Nuon Eth said yesterday that police were preparing to send suspect Phoeurn Phen to court to­day for allegedly beating his wife to death at their home in O’Smach commune on Friday night.

Mr Eth said Mr Phen, the director of the commune health center, had confessed to killing his wife, Koeurn Srey On, by throwing a piece of wood at her head during an argument.

He said Mr Phen had blamed the argument on his wife’s jealousies but admitted that he had not taken her to the hospital until about 1 am Sat­urday, five hours after she was knocked unconscious.

After examining Koeurn Srey On’s body, Mr Eth said he believed that she had been the victim of a sustained beating, as she had a number of head wounds.

“It is a sad issue…when a couple cannot control their tempers,” Mr Eth said.

Am Sam Ath, senior investigator for rights group Licadho, said his organization had recorded 25 cases of domestic violence across the country in 2011.

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