The Svay Rieng Provincial Court on Thursday charged a 23-year-old man with the attempted murder of a 4-year-old boy who survived having his throat slit at his home in Svay Rieng province’s Bavet City on Monday.
Khim Lai, chief of the provincial police’s serious crimes bureau, said Investigating Judge Sok Ly charged Sun Sideth with the attempted murder of Thorn Bunthoeun, who was alone when he was attacked in Chrak M’tes commune.
Mr. Lai said that Mr. Sideth admitted to the crime during questioning by police.
“He confessed to committing the crime because he wanted revenge against the boy’s father for stealing his bicycle in the past,” Mr. Lai said.
Mr. Sideth, who is the victim’s neighbor, was questioned by commune police on Monday afternoon but released the same day due to lack of evidence.
He was taken into custody again Tuesday afternoon after the boy regained consciousness at Kantha Bopha Hospital in Phnom Penh, according to Chrak M’tes commune police chief Koeut Sareth.
“Police arrested him again because we learned who committed the crime from the boy after he woke up at the hospital,” he said.