Chinese Woman Stabbed to Death With Scissors

Police are searching for a man they suspect of stabbing a Chinese woman to death with a pair of scissors in her home in Phnom Penh on Saturday, the second grisly murder of a Chinese woman in the city this month.

At about 6 p.m., Hur Layang, 60, was alone at her house in Meanchey district’s Stung Meanchey commune when she was stabbed once in the neck with a pair of scissors, according to district police chief Teng Sino.

With the scissors still in her neck, Hur Layang ran out of her house screaming for help, he said, adding that her nephew who lived nearby heard the cries and drove her to the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, where she later died.

Based on their questioning of neighbors who witnessed Hur Layang run out of her home, Mr. Sino said district and municipal police are searching for a male suspect, adding that the motivation was unclear.

“This case is just a murder because the victim’s belongings were not missing, and her money was still with her,” he said.

However, commune police chief Mao Saroeun said his officers did not have enough evidence to conclude whether the murder was the result of an attempted robbery.

Mr. Saroeun added that police were cooperating with the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh on the investigation. A spokesman for the embassy declined to comment on the case.

Hur Layang had been living in Stung Meanchey for the last three months with her husband, running a business selling glasses, bells, and plastic items made in China, Mr. Saroeun said. The victim was alone the day of the murder because her husband had returned to China to stock up on products, he added.

Earlier this month, Chen Huaying, 25, was stabbed to death in her bedroom in a Pur Senchey district apartment. Police subsequently released all five Chinese suspects, who were the woman’s housemates, because they were unable to gather enough evidence to press charges.

[email protected]

Related Stories

Latest News